By Rebecca Rayko
AWN Editor

The industry gathering this week in Singapore for Asian Aerospace 2000 promises to be another heated competition between Airbus and Boeing, particularly in the long-range aircraft category.

The sales battle between the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A340 is one of the most contentious between the two rivals, and Asia is viewed as the prime market for both airplanes. The long-range aircraft are ideal for flying from Asia to the US West Coast and are favorites among the region's airlines.

Now that the Asian economy is back on the upswing, and airlines are again looking at their fleet requirements, expect the Airbus and Boeing marketing teams to be out in full force. Readers will recall the last major industry gathering, the Paris Air Show last June, ended with an important coup pulled off by Boeing as the show was drawing to a close. Singapore Airlines decided to trade in 17 previously ordered A340s in favor of the 777. (See related story)

Adding insult to injury for Airbus was the fact that Boeing was going to remarket these A340s. Of course we all remember the less-than-sportsmanlike response from Airbus to this, a threat that it wouldn't support the resold planes, which was quickly retracted by the consortium.

Just following Paris was an important development for Boeing's proposed 777X series, with its even longer range and higher seating capacity than the popular 777. The fledgling program was given a boost with the selection of General Electric as the series' exclusive engine provider, no doubt a deal linked with financial backing from GE. (See related story)

The 777-200X would be the longest-range commercial airplane ever designed. It would fly 10,100 statute miles - 1,200 miles farther than today's 777-200ER, currently the longest range airliner in service. The same size as the 777-200, it would carry about 300 passengers in a three-class configuration.

The 777-300X would fly 8,300 statute miles - about 1,800 miles more than the 777-300 that entered service in 1998. It would be the same size as the 777-300 and carry about 360 passengers in a three-class configuration.

Then there was the controversial advertising campaign from Airbus, whose print ads in a number of industry trade magazines implied that Boeing's twin-engine 777 was less safe to fly over water than the four-engine A340. Capitalizing on the fear of the traveling public is generally considered taboo in this industry, but Airbus has been strongly denouncing the recent ETOPS decision made by the FAA for some time.

So, against this backdrop, expect the competition between the A340 and the 777 to be among the hot issues this week at Singapore.

Going in to the show, Airbus has a strong lead over Boeing with 118 orders for its A340-500/600 series.

Meanwhile, Boeing, without a launch customer, has yet to officially launch the 777-200X and -300X family, although Singapore may prove to be the place for this. Time is running short, if Boeing still plans for the 777X models to enter service by 2003.

If nothing else, Boeing can gauge the market response to the 777X series from potential airline customers.

Order talk going into the show includes EVA Airways of Taiwan, which Flight International reports is set to announce a seven-plane order for a mix of 777-200X and -300X models, plus an option for five more. EVA originally chose the A340-500.

There is also talk of Malaysia Airlines placing a major order from Airbus with 18 A340-500s and up to 62 A320s, according to Flight.