法國空客公司損失160億美元大單

Fabrice Brégier, Airbus chief executive, has put a brave face on Emirates Airline’s cancellation of a $16bn order for 70 of the aircraft maker’s planned new A350 passenger jets.

面對阿聯酋航空(Emirates Airline)取消價值160億美元的空客(Airbus)訂單一事，空客首席執行官法布里斯•佈雷吉爾(Fabrice Bregier)對外表現得很勇敢。阿聯酋航空原本計劃購買70架新型A350客機。

It is Airbus’s largest contract cancellation, but at a dinner with journalists on Wednesday evening Mr Brégier insisted Emirates’ decision would have “zero negative impact” on the European aerospace group. “Is it a problem for us?” he said. “The answer is clearly ‘No’ … [but] I do not like it because Emirates is a top-class customer and I would prefer them to operate the A350.”

這是空客被取消的規模最大的一筆訂單。但在週三晚間宴請記者時，佈雷吉爾堅稱，阿聯酋航空的決定對這家歐洲航空集團的“負面影響爲零”。“這對我們是個問題嗎？”他說，“答案顯然是否定的……（但）我不太高興，因爲阿聯酋航空是我們的頂級客戶，我希望他們能飛A350。”

For Airbus, the loss on Wednesday of Emirates as an A350 customer throws an uncomfortable spotlight on its strategy for long-range aircraft – particularly in the lucrative market for wide-body, twin-engined jets, where it trails Boeing. The fast-growing Gulf carrier’s contract cancellation also raises broader questions about whether there are signs of a downturn in the commercial-jet industry – which could force Airbus and Boeing to stop making so many aircraft.

發展迅速的阿聯酋航空決定放棄A350，會讓外界對空客的遠程客機、尤其是寬體雙發動機的發展戰略感到不安。這個領域利潤豐厚，而空客在這個領域中落後于波音(Boeing)。取消訂單一事還引發了更深層的疑問：商用飛機市場是否正顯露疲態？如果的確如此，空客和波音將會不得不減產。

But for Mr Brégier, the most pressing concern is whether Airbus can hit its ambitious timetable for getting the A350 into service before the end of the year, and then ramp up production of the aircraft.

然而對佈雷吉爾而言，最緊迫的問題是，能否實現空客給A350設定的目標——在今年年底之前服役，而後加快這一機型的生產。

Then there is the issue of whether the A350 is an adequate competitor for Boeing’s two wide-body twin-engined jets – the Dreamliner and the planned 777X. There will be three different versions of the Dreamliner and two 777X aircraft, but Airbus is planning only three A350 models.

另一個問題是A350能否匹敵波音的兩種寬體雙發動機飛機——夢幻客機(Dreamliner)系列以及計劃中的777X飛機。 Dreamliner將有三種不同機型，777X有兩種，但空客僅計劃生產三種型號的A350客機。

But Airbus has already had more order cancellations by airlines this year than in the whole of 2013. A total of 173 aircraft have been cancelled in 2014 so far, compared with 116 last year.

今年迄今爲止，空客已被取消173架飛機訂單，已超過整個2013年的116架。

In a further sign of possible market deterioration, Airbus’s book to bill ratio – calculated by dividing annual orders for aircraft by jet deliveries – could decline this year compared with 2013.

另一個市場可能正在惡化的跡象是，空客今年全年的訂單出貨比（飛機交貨量除以年度訂單數量）可能將低於去年。