空客在美设厂正面对撼波音

    喷气式飞机制造商空中客车（Airbus）的母公司欧洲宇航防务集团（EADS）近年来加大了与宿敌波音公司（Boeing）的竞争力度，使两大飞机制造业巨头之间错综复杂的战争提升到了一个新阶段。据消息人士透露，EADS将在美国南部阿拉巴马州的莫比尔市兴建一个新工厂。这也将是空客在西半球开设的第一个工厂，此举或将威胁波音对美国喷气机市场的统治地位。

    虽然这家工厂一开始将主要承担空客最新的A320单通道飞机的生产任务，但未来EADS也有利用该厂生产军用飞机的可能，届时它将成为波音公司的噩梦。因为EADS可以轻易地对该工厂进行扩展或改装，使它可以支持EADS日益增长的防卫业务，比如用来生产欧洲直升机公司（Eurocopter）的攻击直升机，或是先进的喷气式战斗机和支援飞机等。随着北美工厂的建立运营，再加上EADS已经在美国招聘了数千名工人，EADS很可能从波音公司抢走一大笔利润可观的军事合同，使波音与空客在全球飞机市场的竞争更加利益攸关。

    波音和空客的单通道飞机市场大战已经打了一年多了，两家都在努力争抢新客户，这些新客户想要的则是更新、更节省燃油的机型。虽然单通道飞机市场的新闻很难在媒体上成为头条，但它对于两家公司的商用航空部门来说却是最大的利润中心。因此尽管空客的A380巨无霸飞机和充满未来主义风格的波音787飞机也十分重要，但波音和空客并不指望它们最主要的摇钱树。去年波音737单通道飞机大约为波音民用航空事业部贡献了40%的收入，利润则超过了该部门总利润的一半。

    据波音公司估算，未来20年，单通道飞机市场的价值可能将达到近2万亿美金。市场需求主要来自亚洲，这也就是为什么波音和空客都宣布将在中国投资建设民用飞机制造厂。无论是对于波音还是对于空客，亚洲的工厂都将是他们在各自的主要市场之外开设的第一批民用飞机制造设施。

    尽管亚洲市场增长迅速，但世界上拥有最多民航飞机的国家还是美国。美国的航空公司已经持续多年投资不足，这意味着它们现在都急需更新设备，因此美国也成了继亚洲之后的第二大喷气式飞机市场。

    波音在美国市场仍占有一定的优势地位，不过空客也正在缓慢地攫取市场份额。去年波音遭受了一次重大打击，几十年来一直只使用波音飞机的美国航空公司（American Airlines）突然宣布将从空客订购260架A320单通道飞机。未来波音的情况可能会更糟，去年刚刚收购了大陆航空公司（Continental Airlines）的美国联合航空公司（United Airlines）有望在下月的伦敦范堡罗国际航展（Farnborough Airshow）上订购100架单通道飞机。据传空客有可能通过这笔订单攫取到更多的市场份额。

    难怪空客想在美国建立一个新工厂。据报道，这家工厂每月将可生产4至6架单通道飞机。要完成美国航空公司的260架订单，以及美联航的100架订单，大概需要5年到7年半的时间。此外，其他航空公司也有可能向空客抛来橄榄枝，比如全美航空公司（US Airways）本来就大量使用空客的飞机，如果它继续下单的话，那么空客的美国工厂在未来十年里都不会闲着。

    EADS, the parent company of jet maker Airbus, has upped the ante in its long-running blood feud with Boeing, setting the stage for a messy battle between the two aerospace giants. According to a person with knowledge of the matter, the European conglomerate is set to announce the construction of a new manufacturing facility for its Airbus aircraft in the heart of Dixie -- Mobile, Alabama. It would be Airbus's first manufacturing plant in the western hemisphere, threatening Boeing's grip over the US jet market.

    But while the facility will be at first tuned to construct Airbus's new A320 single-aisle aircraft, the potential for EADS to also use the facility to manufacture military equipment could end up becoming a nightmare for Boeing (BA). EADS could easily expand or convert the future plant to support its growing defense businesses, like its popular Eurocopter attack helicopters or its cutting-edge jet fighters and support aircraft. With a facility up and running in the US and already staffed with thousands of American workers, EADS could nab quite a few lucrative military contracts away from Boeing, raising the stakes in the global aerospace wars.

    The battle for the single-aisle jet market has raged for over a year now with both Boeing and Airbus competing fiercely for new customers wanting newer and more fuel-efficient models. While the single-aisle jet market hardly grabs headlines, it is actually the biggest profit center for the two companies' commercial aviation divisions. So while Airbus' superjumbo A380 and Boeing's futuristic 787 are important, the truth is, they aren't the big money makers. For example, Boeing's single-aisle 737 aircraft accounts for around 40% of the US aerospace giant's commercial aviation revenue and well over half the division's profits last year.

    Boeing estimates that the single-aisle market could be worth nearly $2 trillion over the next 20 years. The majority of that demand is expected to come from Asia, which is why both Boeing and Airbus have announced plans to construct new commercial aircraft manufacturing plants in China. For both companies, the Asian plants would be their first commercial aircraft manufacturing facilities to be located outside their respective home markets.

    But while Asia is a rapidly growing market, the US is still home to the largest commercial aviation fleet in the world. Years of underinvestment by US airlines means that they are in dire need of new equipment, making the US the second largest market for new jet aircraft behind Asia.

    Boeing aircraft still has the upper hand in the US market, but Airbus has been slowly taking market share. Boeing sustained a big hit last year when American Airlines, which had maintained a Boeing-only fleet for decades, announced it was ordering 260 new single-aisle A320s from Airbus. It could soon get worse. United Airlines (UAL), which absorbed Continental Airlines last year, is expected to announce a new order for 100 single-aisle aircraft at the Farnborough airshow in the United Kingdom next month. There is talk that Airbus could snatch even more market share in that deal.

    It is no wonder that Airbus would want to then create a new production facility in the US. With the facility scheduled to reportedly pump out four to six new single-aisle jets a month, it could construct American's 260 and the United's potential 100 aircraft orders in five to seven-and-a half years. New orders from other airlines, like US Airways, which already extensively uses Airbus aircraft, could keep the plant humming for a decade or more.