Airbus estimates that the potential market for Boeing’s proposed New Mid-market Airplane amounts to 2,500 aircraft, at best, over the next two decades.
While the European airframer’s forecast does not explicitly give a prediction for the NMA’s prospects, senior vice-president for business analysis Bob Lange told FlightGlobal that it believes there is an “addressable market” of 2,000-2,500 jets.
“But we’d be competing within that space,” he stresses, with aircraft types including the Airbus A321XLR, high-density A321s and the re-engined A330neo.
“It doesn’t mean there won’t be a market for a new aircraft in that space – but we’d be taking the early market.”
Airbus has strategically positioned the longer-range variants of the A321neo alongside the A330neo, pairing them as a counter to the proposed NMA – which Boeing, currently under pressure from the 737 Max and 777X programmes, has yet to launch.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
