Airbus is studying a high-speed subsonic aircraft, called the E2, the company revealed last week, just days after Boeing unveiled a similar design. Airbus will shortly begin discussing the concept with airlines, Adam Brown, vice-president market forecast said in Dallas, Texas, last week. Brown adds, however, that the company doubts whether the E2, cruising at Mach 0.95, would be economically viable. The E2 would have a variable-geometry wing, forward foreplanes and two very high bypass engines aft above the wing, and would be the basis of a 250 seat airliner.
Source: Flight International