Airbus May Launch NEO Without Big Order

The go-ahead of Airbus’s A320 New Engine Option (NEO) upgrade will not be conditional on any big order target or customer mix as has been the traditional pre-requisite for previous program go-aheads. And catalogue prices for the upgraded variants will have a premium of upward of $8 million, depending on the engine selected, the manufacturer reveals.

A decision whether to go ahead with the NEO is due by the end of this year. But it is concern over the availability of Airbus’s engineering resources to develop the project, rather than the upgrade’s commercial prospects, that will drive the decision, says Chief Operating Officer John Leahy.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awx/2010/11/19/awx_11_19_2010_p0-271320.xml&headline=Airbus%20May%20Launch%20NEO%20Without%20Big%20Order&channel=comm