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7/22/13

Aircraft Industry: Dreamliner 'not reliable' says Airbus Executive

A senior Airbus executive hit out at rival Boeing's troubled Dreamliner on Friday, saying the aircraft was clearly not reliable and suggested it was rushed to market.

"It's pretty obvious that this airplane is not reliable and does not have mature systems," Airbus sales chief John Leahy told reporters at a ceremony to mark the 1 000th delivery of the company's A330 plane, to Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific.

"You can keep it flying but it's going to cost you a lot of maintenance," Leahy said, in the first comments by Airbus management about the Dreamliner's difficulties.

"What they've got is an architecture that is not mature and that will eventually become mature. It's going to take a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of cancelled flights. And maybe redesign quite a few systems onboard."
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner has suffered from a string of problems this year, including a fire on board an empty Ethiopian Airlines plane at London's Heathrow airport last week.

Read more: Dreamliner 'not reliable' - Airbus | News24

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