Airbus gets go-ahead for new craft

The European planemaking company Airbus is to go ahead with two versions of a new wide-bodied jet.

Airbus hopes the two A350 aircraft will enter service in 2010.

The plane will be a rival to the 7E7 being manufactured by Airbus’s big rival, Boeing of America.

The first version of the new Airbus plane – the A350-800 – will seat around 245 passengers and will have a range of about 8,600 miles.

The second version – the A350-900 – will carry around 285 passengers and be capable of journeys of up to 7,500 miles.

The first batch of planes will be powered by engines from American company General Electric.

Toulouse-based Airbus, whose planes’ wings are built in Britain by Airbus UK, sees the A350 as a longer-range version of the Airbus A330. Pilots flying the A330 will be able to switch to the A350 with no extra training.

Long before the A350 takes to the skies, Airbus will have put its superjumbo, the 555-passenger A380, into service.