| Guerra
Aérea
Embraer CEO
questions Airbus' A380 superjumbo
but would invest in A350
PARIS (AP) - Airbus may struggle
to make money from its troubled superjumbo A380,
the chief executive of Brazilian planemaker Embraer
said.
But Frederico Fleury Curado expressed
interest Friday in investing in another Airbus project,
the A350 XWB.
Curado, whose company's jets are
aimed at the regional market and seat up to 122
passengers, said the market for mass hub-to-hub
transit is limited, as congestion at big hubs such
as London Heathrow or Frankfurt turns passengers
toward smaller airports.
"The flying experience through
major hubs is becoming more and more difficult,''
he said in an interview in Paris, location of Embraer's
European headquarters.
"How many A380s can you sell?
Can you sell 200, can you sell 1,000? We see a few
hundreds of airplanes so the question might be the
return on investment.''
Boeing Co. projects much weaker
demand for jumbo jets than Airbus, which has invested
heavily in its 525-seat A380. That plane is scheduled
to enter commercial service in October, after delays
caused by production snags that wiped more than
euro4.8 billion ($6.62 billion) off the company's
profit forecast for 2006-2010.
Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica
SA has grown in recent years thanks to the success
of regional jets. Its E-190 and E-195 jets bridge
the gap between traditional smaller regional planes
and the bigger planes produced by Boeing and Airbus.
Curado said Embraer, the world's
fourth largest aircraft manufacturer, could be interested
in another Airbus plane: the A350 XWB.
Curado said Embraer would be interested
in a "risk-sharing partnership'' with Airbus
on the A350 and has money to invest. He said there
have been no concrete talks on the subject and he
does not know whether Airbus would consider the
Brazilian planemaker as a partner.
EADS is a former shareholder of
Embraer and the two companies formed a consortium
that controls OGMA or Industria Aeronautica de Portugal
SA, one of the largest maintenance, repair and overhaul
facilities in Europe.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
has said he is seeking new industrial partners for
Airbus.
At last month's Paris air show,
Airbus took in 141 new firm orders for the A350-XWB,
though that included conversions of orders for the
earlier A350, which Airbus was forced to redesign
- at great expense. The A380 fared less well at
the air show, with just three new firm orders.
"We believe the 350 will be
a successful program,'' Curado said. "The orders
are kind of stating that.''
Embraer has grown in recent years
as the regional jet market increases and airlines
seek roomier single-aisle planes.
Northwest Airlines Corp. is adding
72 new 76-seat jets through next year. Half will
be Bombardier CRJ-900s and the other half will be
Embraer 175s. Both include a dozen first-class seats,
and the cabin is bigger than on Northwest's other
regional jets.
Embraer plans to deliver between
165-170 planes this year increasing to 195-205 in
2008, and has a firm order backlog of $15 billion
(euro10.88 billion).
Curado, who took over from Mauricio
Botelho in April, says he wants to continue his
predecessor's focus on the executive jet market,
currently 16 percent of sales.
Embraer has one executive jet in
production - the Legacy - with three more in development:
the Phenom 100 and 300 jets and the Lineage 1000
ultra-large executive carrier. The Legacy 600 can
seat up to 16 passengers in three seated sections
and Embraer expects to deliver between 27 and 30
this year. The company delivered 27 in 2006.
Curado, who described himself as
"shy'' and asked before removing his jacket,
said he doesn't own his own jet. If he did he said
he would pick the Legacy, which he would fit out
with a cherry interior.
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