![Airbus COO for customers John Leahy told the ISTAT conference the manufacturer will need to see more evidence of significant improvements in fuel consumption and range to justify the case for re-engining the A380. [Photo: Gregory Polek]](https://www.ainonline.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,format=webp,quality=95/https://backend.ainonline.com/sites/default/files/styles/fpsc_1200x630/public/uploads/2015/03/leahy.jpg?h=dc84b045&itok=Q5SUD09Z)
Airbus will not offer a new engine option for the A380 until a more compelling business case presents itself, despite a proposition from Emirates Airline CEO Tim Clark to buy as many as 200 more re-engined superjumbos. Speaking on March 9 at the International Society of Transport Aircraft Traders (ISTAT) conference in Phoenix, Airbus COO for customers John Leahy noted that the company remains in the process of deciding whether sufficient grounds exist for pursuing such a project. “There is an airline in the Middle East that has been suggesting that we [launch an A380neo]. We aren’t obviously going to build an airplane for just one airline, even if it does buy a lot,” he said. “We have to back and forth with the tradeoff...if you’re getting double digit lower fuel consumption, if you’ve got perhaps even longer range, you can study that. And we’re in the process of trying to decide, do you invest money to make a neo version of this airplane and charging more for it...or do you say no, it’s got a nice price now. And I forgot to mention, in 2015 we are breaking even on the airplane.”
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