Up to now, the changes in the industry dedicated to the construction of aircraft came together with the development of new prototypes capable of transporting more passengers, fly longer distances, or achieve better results in short low occupancy rate routes.

But the great change is the one coming now, with the improved performance of the aeroplanes and the cut in their building costs as from the development and application of new materials and construction techniques

Airbus foresees that by 2020 the carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced 50%, when the nitrogen oxides (also contaminating gases) could diminish 80%. But the benefits of the technological changes do not end here. Alain García, Engineering executive vice president for Airbus, assured that “the flight average cost will be reduced by 30%”.

For an immediate future, the European firm projects the use of hybrid and compound materials in the structure of the A380 giant will represent 25% of the machine’s weight, value that will increase until it reaches 65% for the year 2020 in all its models. “The objective is reducing the fuselage weight 30% and achieve a 40% cost reduction”. García pointed out.

Besides a revolutionary solid carbon wing cover, the coating of the A380 upper fuselage will be composed of a light material called Glare that consists of Fiberglas strips linked to fine aluminium layers. A laser welding process will be employed to join girders legthwise on the lower fuselage to gain in rigidity and avoid the use of rivets.

Specifically, García mentioned that the A380 would use hybrid and compound materials for the construction of the tail cone, mobile surfaces, girders, horizontal and vertical tail planes, middle wing case, wing girders and the part of the fuselage that would be constructed with Glare.

During the presentation of the Airbus annual technical report for the press (TPB, according to its English initials) that took place in Toulouse, France, the company executives agreed in pointing out that substances like Glare can be the key to significant weight reduction of the planes and an efficiency improvement. “These new materials will open the way to new construction and assembly processes”, the engineering vice president of the company assured.

Glare has a 10% lower density to that of a standard aluminium alloy and higher fatigue and damage resistance factors. Laboratory tests demonstrated, among other things, that artificial cracks, submitted to thousands of flight cycles barely increase in size, and that on the whole it has an exceptional resistance to corrosion.

The competition

But not all was technology at Toulouse. There was also time to talk about the company figures... and of the competition.

Airbus projects that once the 2003 balance is closed, it will have delivered, for the first time in its history, the same amount of planes as its archenemy Boeing, which dominated the market last year with 62% of the deliveries. According to the European company figures, Boeing will continue its leadership also during 2002, although it predicts it will land its grand blow next year.

John Leahy, client relations’ executive vice president for Airbus, estimated his company would deliver 50% of all the marketed craft for which it is competing with its North American rival, along 2003.

The executive fundamented his company’s forecast in assuring that in the moment when the companies have to choose between one aircraft constructor and the other “ the ones inclined for Airbus are more”.

“The residual sale value of the A340 after ten years of use is 6% higher than the Boeing 777-200ER and 105 more than the 747-400” Leahy justified. And added that “the A330-200, itself, has a 3% higher residual sale value than the 767-300ER and 6% more than the 787-400ER after the ten years”.

According to data from the European firm, the amount of last year’s purchase orders was distributed equitably among Airbus and Boeing, although the first will collect 37.300 million dollars for those orders and the North American company will bag 24000 million.

“The sales and participation figures Airbus uses and discloses are based on official information from entities such as IATA or the Airline Official Guide” stated Javier Lifa, press adviser for the company in South America, with the intention of dispersing any doubt about the data veracity.

The commercial dispute between Boeing and Airbus was permanently present during the Airbus annual Technical Report presentation for the press (TPB). Gérard Blanc, the European company’s programme executive vice president criticised the American company’s supersonic plane project, although without mentioning it directly. “A craft that would fly at a higher speed than the present ones means it will burn more fuel, have higher costs, greater noxious gas emissions and generate more noise in the environment”, he said.