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The fight is really on. Thanks to delays in production of the Boeing 787 Airbus is offering a higher gross weight version of its A330-200, in a bid to capture new markets let down by Boeing.
 
Airbus anticipates a delivery date of 2010 and believes their aircraft will be a more attractive investment than the 787. The modifications to the 787 will increase its maximum take off weight by 5 tonnes.

The new 238 tonne Airbus is expected to have a range of 6840nm, contrasting that against the 219.5 tonne 787-8 that Airbus says has a range of 6720nm.
 
This contrasts sharply with Boeing’s publicity, which states a 787 range of 7650 – 8000nm.
 
In the battle of words Airbus has stated that it believes the Boeing will have a 2% higher fuel burn and “tonnes” of extra operating empty weight added to the baseline specification.

Despite the current economic conditions Quantas has bucked the trend of some other airlines and posted a record profit before tax of Aus$ 1,408 million (US $ 1,204 million) for the full year to June 30th 2008. This is a 48% increase over the same period last year. Chairman Leigh Clifford said despite and excellent performance across all sectors for the first 3 quarters the airline was now starting to see the effects of a slowing economy and rising fuel prices.

CEO Geoff Dixon said the key drivers of the results included strong domestic and international demands which led to a 1.2% yield improvement and a 0.8% increase in seat load factor to 80.7% for the group.