Excerpted from the Wall Street Journal, February 5, 1997

“Airbus Lines Up ‘Superjumbo’ Partners

Toulouse, France -- “The man leading development of Airbus Industrie’s 555 seat ‘superjumbo’ passenger jet” announced that Italian, Swedish and South Korean groups have “expressed interest in becoming substantial risk sharing partners” in the venture. “The comments by Mr. (Juergen) Thomas indicate that Airbus intends to push ahead with its superjumbo, dubbed the A3XXX, despite Boeing’s decision last month to abandon plans to stretch its 747 jumbo aircraft to carry as many as 550 passengers.”

Airbus hopes to begin delivery of the new aircraft in 2003. Mr. Thomas said, “Airbus remains convinced that there is a huge market for planes of 500 seats or more in the next 20 years, and predicted that Boeing will soon be back in the superjumbo game.”

See Airbus Industries web site page below:

From Airbus Industries: The following information was downloaded on February 5, 1997, from the Airbus web site at www.airbus.com/develop, and is not part of the Wall Street Journal story.  It is included here to supplement discussion of the proposed superjumbos with information about other new aircraft in development:

Airbus Industrie has taken action to further develop its product line to offer a comprehensive and modern aircraft family for the 1990s and beyond that meets evolving market needs.

New products now being offered to airlines include an extreme long-range derivative of the widebody, four-engine A340; an extended-range model of the twin-engine A330 widebody; and an increased range/payload version the twin-engine, single-aisle A321.

The ultra long-range version of the A340 -- designated the 340-8000 -- will be ready for airline operations in 1997, offering service over the longest routes of any civil aircraft available today. It will be capable of flying non-stop up to 15,000 km./8,000 naut. mi. with 232 passengers in three classes. The A340-8000 responds primarily to needs of the transpacific market, and also provides the opportunity for the first ever non-stop services between Europe to Australia, as well as direct New York-Tokyo flights.

Two versions of the A340 with a stretched fuselage is under study for a potential entry into airline service in the early 2000s. The A340-600 derivative would be lengthened by 20 fuselage frames. This would increase the current A340's capacity -- which is 295 passengers in a three-class configuration -- by 87 seats, while maintaining its 7,300 naut. mi. range. The A340-500 would be 6 fuselage frames longer than the A340-300.

Airbus Industrie and GE Aircraft Engines have signed an exclusive agreement to study engine requirements for the A340-600. The GE engine to be evaluated by the joint team would have thrust ratings beginning at 51,000 lb.

Operating capabilities of Airbus Industrie's twin-engine A330 are being expanded with a growing family of derivatives. Airbus Industrie's forecasts indicate a demand during the next 20 years for approximately 3,000 aircraft in the A330's typical seating capacity of 250-300-passengers.

A range extension is now available for the A330 to meet future long-haul requirements for aircraft in its category. The A330-200 will accommodate approximately 253 passengers in a typical three-class layout, and its range will be up to 11,800 km./6,400 naut. mi. For regional operations, the A330-200 would carry 293 passengers in an optimized two-class cabin configuration.

The A330-200 will be 10 fuselage frames -- or 5.33 meters/17.5 ft. -- shorter than the current A330 aircraft, which carries 335 passengers in a two-class cabin configuration over distances of 8,300 km./4,500 naut. mi. The new A330 version will be ready for service in 1998. The first customer is International Lease Finance Corporation, which ordered 13 A330-200s as part of a 46-aircraft acquisition announced in March, 1996.

A "light" version of the A330-200 is offered for regional services with a capacity of about 293 passengers in two classes, complementing the larger 335-seat A330-300.

In the even larger category, Airbus Industrie is also working on a very large aircraft to meet demand for a new airliner capacities in excess of 500 seats.

Airlines contacted by Airbus Industrie during earlier market studies outlined a wide range of uses for the A3XX, ranging from short-haul, high-density operations to very long transpacific flights. A turnaround time of 90 minutes -- the industry standard for long-haul aircraft today -- is considered essential.

The consortium is accelerating its work on the A3XX, and has created an integrated division to undertake all pre-development activities for the proposed aircraft. A team of experts from Airbus Industrie and its partners will work closely with a group of designated representatives from key potential customers.

Tasks for the newly-formed Airbus Industrie Large Aircraft Division include: refining the market studies undertaken so far; defining the basic specifications for the new aircraft; examining an enlargement of the program's industrial base and financial structures, and establishing a business case.

Airbus Industrie foresees a market for 1,380 airliners of 500 seats and above through the year 2014, representing a combined value of some $300 billion.
 

Opponents of the proposed El Toro airport point out that larger and heavily loaded aircraft probably will have to use the north runway 34. taking off and flying at low altitude over Tustin, Lemon Heights, portions of Santa Ana, Orange, Garden Grove and Anaheim.