Product strategy

Airbus has 4 range types of products:  Passenger Aircraft, Corporate Jets, Freighter Aircraft and military Aircraft.  Each family of product is composed by several models, in order to satisfy needs of all the segment market (low cost, full-service, freighter, VIP and military segment).

We are going to focus on Passenger Aicraft in this article.

• The A320 family  is a single ailse jet liner family, and according to airbus website there are the most eco-efficient products. The constructor still continu to invest on this family by innovating on design and efficiency, with for instance the development of  the A320neo.

• The A330 family (5 products) covers all market segment and provide low operating cost, high efficiency, flexibility and optimised performance.

• The A340 family is reputated for is long distance performance, and can transport from 250 to 359 passengers.

• The A350 family, Airbus defines it as the future of air travel, combining aerodynamics design and advanced technologies.

• The A380 which is the world largest commercial aircraft, with an high level of confort.

As Airbus Boeing covers the same markets going from commercial to military Aircraft.

In the field of commercial airplanes the American constructor provides from 100 seat to 500 seats planes.

• The 737 family is a short to medium range airplane available in three sizes from 120 to 220 seats. The new product generation include advanced technology and specific wing design. These innovation made planes more eco-efficient and anable them to increase traveling distance.

• The 747 family provide among the lowest operating cost and best economics on large passenger. In the 748-7, despite of large efficiency improvements, a clear focus was to increase and improve passenger experiences.  It is one of the most famous plane models, and people are able to recognize it all over the world.

• The 767 family is composed of four models for jetliners passenger, according Boeing website two words can define it comfort and profitability. Indeed, this family has the lowest operating cost of any widebody airplane; moreover planes are available in 3 sizes and compatible with all world airports.

• The 777 family consists of 5 models and has been created to make non-stop fly avoiding escales.

• The 777X family is the newest family of twin-aisle airplanes, it was designed to satisfy t consumer needs and preferences.

• The 787 Dreamliner, is a long range plane, it can carry from 210 to 330 peoples. This twin-engine jet airliner is supposed to be 20% more fuel efficient than the 767.

Boeing as well as Airbus have developed a large range of products covering almost all the markets segments. Even if products seems to be closed and focused on the same items (quality, efficiency, comfort), some differences still exist between the product strategy of the two constructors. As you can see on the following picture there are gap more important in term of seat capacity and models among the airbus range. 

Moreover the European constructor has always designes planes for hub-to-hub travel, this is why some experts has dubts about this strategy, and think that in the future passenger will prefer direct and faster travel.

Sources : http://www.airbus.com/aircraftfamilies/

http://www.boeing.com/boeing/product_list.page?