Airbus (AIR.PA) is stepping up testing of radical new wing technology as the planemaker lays the foundation for a future successor to its best-selling A320 series, but faces a battle to bring down costs.
British Industry Minister Nusrat Ghani inaugurated a wing technology plant in southwest England on Tuesday to help design and build wings that are longer, lighter, more slender and feature folding wingtips to fly more sustainably.
"It's our programme to prepare technologies we are going to need for the next generation of Airbus aircraft, whatever that is," Sue Partridge, head of the company's Wing of Tomorrow programme, told reporters.
The opening comes as Boeing (BA.N)researches an elongated, ultra-light concept called Transonic Truss-Braced Wings.
The choice of wing design and production methods by either manufacturer, together with engine developments, will shape aircraft competition well into the second half of the century.
Industry sources estimate Airbus is spending in the "high hundreds of millions" of dollars on Wing of Tomorrow.
Officially, the research could benefit any project, but all eyes are on a successor to the single-aisle A320, which Airbus has said could be introduced between 2035 and 2040.
Reuters
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