Premium 2018.22 – Boeing’s war on the A330neo

Airbus announced its A330neo at the 2014 Farnborough Air Show.  The idea was that this refresh would act as a highly disruptive offering in the market – close to the 787 in performance but at a considerably lower cost.  The concept was plausible.  Market reaction to the announcement came with 121 orders.  In addition, Delta Air Lines ordered 25 to start replacing their 767s, despite having a legacy order for 787s (later canceled) placed by Northwest Airlines.  Currently, there are over 200 orders for the A330-900neo but none for the smaller A330-800neo.

The A330 has proven to be a very good program for Airbus.  It beat the 767 and befitted from the 787 delays.  The A330 won against the 777-200ER at Qantas where both A330 models were ordered.  Airbus spent $2Bn developing the A330neo compared to over $30Bn Boeing spent on the 787.  Whereas the A330ceo has a 13-15% better fuel burn than the 777-200ER, Airbus claims the A330neo is 25% better.  This improvement makes the A330neo is a good match for the 787 in terms of performance and pricing.  Supporting Airbus’ view is this slide from today’s presentation at the delivery of the first A330neo to TAP.