Airbus en propeller gedreven transport

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Het zou ontzettend jammer zijn als dit project niet door zou gaan. OK, ze
hebben véél meer kosten gemaakt dan gebudgetteerd was (heb nog niets
gezien over de redenen).
Ze hebben echter wel de technische vliegmogelijkheden behoorlijk uitgebreid.
Nog net niet over de geluidsnelheid is niet mis voor een propellervliegtuig.

Daarnaast een behoorlijke uitbreiding van vervoersmogelijkheden over grote
afstanden met een heel laag brandstofverbruik.

Volgens mij gaat deze technologie continentaal luchtvervoer veranderen, en
het zou jammer zijn als Airbus daar nu niet de vruchten van zou kunnen
plukken.

Dus heren en dames politici, even verder kijken dan de neus lang is.

Groet / Cees

 01/06/2010
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,670423,00.html
Murky Future for the A400M
Germany Remains Stubborn in Airbus Debate
The Airbus military transport plane A400M took off for its maiden voyage
last month in Seville, Spain. But its future remains in doubt.
Zoom
DPA

The Airbus military transport plane A400M took off for its maiden voyage
last month in Seville, Spain. But its future remains in doubt.

Germany has dug in its heels in the face of Airbus demands for a further 5
billion euros to cover cost overruns in the development of the military
transport plane A400M. A Defense Ministry official has said that Berlin
will pay no more than is called for by the contract -- a position which
could torpedo the project.

Even as Airbus warns that the fate of the military transport plane A400M
hangs in the balance, Germany continues to reject demands from the company
for more help with the massive cost overruns that have struck the project.

According to a report in the business daily Handelsblatt on Wednesday, the
Defense Ministry in Berlin remains unwilling to provide Airbus with more
than a further €650 million to cover inflation and surcharges as outlined
in the purchase contract. Airbus, however, is calling on its European
customers to cover 50 percent of the €11 billion in cost overruns.

"We will definitely not pay more than the €650 million in extra costs
called for by the escalation clause in the contract," one unnamed Defense
Ministry official told Handelsblatt. "It is nice that the airplane took
its maiden flight in Seville," added Defense Ministry spokesman Holger
Neumann, referring to last month's first test flight. "But that didn't
fulfil a single condition of the agreement."

Plans to Scrap the Project

The Defense Ministry comments come a day after the Financial Times
Deutschland reported that Airbus head Thomas Enders said over the
Christmas holidays that he no longer believes the project will ever be
successfully brought to fruition. Airbus has developed contingency plans
to scrap the project should its European customers -- including Germany,
France, Great Britain, Spain, Turkey, Belgium and Luxembourg -- not agree
to renegotiate the contract. Talks are scheduled throughout January.

Airbus reinforced its warning on Wednesday, with a company spokesman
telling Handelsblatt that "the project is impossible given the current
contractual conditions. We need a financially sensible solution right
away."

Still, there are those who think that much of the back-and-forth is mere
blustering ahead of the crucial, final phase of the ongoing negotiations.
Both sides, after all, have a lot to lose. Germany has ordered 60 of the
enormous transport planes to replace its 30-year-old fleet of Transall
transporters. Despite years of delay in the A400M's development at Airbus,
Berlin has no realistic alternative. For Airbus, meanwhile, cancellation
of the project would mean a massive loss of face. The A400M is by far the
company's most significant defense project to date.

A Sensible Solution?

German Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle expressed confidence that a
resolution would be found in an interview on German radio on Wednesday.
"In the end, there will probably be a sensible solution," he said.

Other European countries involved in the talks, including France and Great
Britain, have shown a greater willingness to find a compromise than
Germany. "I am confident because this is about the interests of European
industry," said French Defense Minister Herve Morin on French television
station BFM on Wednesday.

Airbus argues that its European customers are to be blamed for much of the
project's cost explosion. Instead of allowing the European airplane
manufacturer to purchase key parts from industry leaders abroad, Airbus
was asked to develop the requisite technology within Europe. The plane
will have a cargo capacity almost twice as large as the C-130 Hercules
planes used by the US Air Force. Originally, Airbus agreed to supply 180
of the planes to its European customers at a total price of €20 billion.

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