Buckingham predicts Boeing will respond to A320neo with all-new narrowbody
New York-based Buckingham Research Group believes that Boeing will counter the Airbus A320neo with an all-new narrowbody design to be launched later this year or early 2012 for delivery in 2017/2018.
Airbus on Tuesday announced that Indian LCC IndiGo will be the launch customer for the A320neo, the re-engined version of the A320 with a planned 2016 EIS that aims to improve fuel efficiency by 15% (ATW Daily News, Jan. 12). In a client report, Buckingham aviation analyst Richard Safran said Boeing will not re-engine the 737. "We think that the technology for a new aircraft with a 25% direct operating cost improvement could be available to support service entry in 2017/2018," he noted. "That's a change from our prior view, which was that [Boeing] would launch a narrowbody replacement in 2014 with a 2019/2020 service entry target."