No A320 replacement until 2025: Airbus

Airbus Executive Vice-President Programmes, Tom Williams, stated talks with carriers on the design of a replacement for the A320 have started and carriers such as Air Asia and Jetstar will have input (The Australian, 14-May-2010). He also confirmed Airbus has yet to make a decision on a new engine for the A320 platform and believes it will be at least 2025 before a new replacement is offered.

Airbus: "I think they also bring some very good experience on low-cost operations, very intense operations, in quite tough environments … So, yes, I think they can bring some quite unique experiences and that helps us in terms of making sure we're designing an aeroplane to suit all the different types of markets, different regions and different, very intense, operations. If you want to rush out and design an all-new airplane around today's engines, you could if you wanted to … Whatever you do it's going to cost you USD10-12 billion. Why would you do it if your competitor is going to bring out an all-new airplane in 2025, 2026 or 2027 that's going to supersede you?," Tom Williams, Executive VP Programmes. Source: The Australian, 14-May-2010.