PARIS, Sept 3 : Airbus Industrie said on Thursday it and China have dropped plans to build a new 100-seater regional airliner after a study showed there was no scope for the aircraft. "The four (Airbus) partners have made an in-depth viability assessment of such a new aircraft and have jointly concluded that no solid common basis was found for further developing this new aircraft," the European consortium said in a statement.State-owned Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) had picked Airbus as its western partner to build a 100-seater jet, dubbed the Asian Express 100, aimed at the regional airline market.
But, studies showed there would be inadequate returns on the estimated $2 billion development costs, industry sources said.
Airbus said it would work with China on other unspecified industrial projects. "The experience gained by AVIC and Airbus Industrie in working together on various projects has permitted the definition of the criteria for successful future industrial cooperation.
"AVIC and Airbus Industrie have, therefore, agreed to develop their cooperation by discussing a new project," Airbus said.
There are expectations that Airbus could announce soon the launch of a 100-seater, or "minibus" plane, derived from its A319 twinjet which seats 124 passengers. Development costs on a cutdown A319 are estimated at much less than $1 billion.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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