Airbus wants Russia to build more of A350 after costs rise

Airbus wants Russian companies to help build an increased share of the 300-seat A350 XWB after development costs soared 50 percent with the use of composite materials.

Alexei Fyodorov, chief executive officer of Russia's Unified Aircraft, met Thursday at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, with top executives of the plane maker and its parent company, European Aeronautic Defense & Space.

"We feel that the Russians are ready to take more responsibility on the A350," said Olivier Andries, an Airbus executive vice president who participated in the meeting.

"We are interested in this project," said Fyodorov in an interview Friday. "But we have to study it first to know how we can participate."

Airbus won EADS approval Dec. 1 to spend $15.5 billion on the new long-range aircraft, the plane maker's sixth attempt to come with a rival to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

Airbus is investing in the plane even as it struggles to complete the 555-seat A380, now two years late, because midsize planes make up 40 percent of the $60 billion-a-year aircraft market.

The Russians were offered 3 percent participation in the earlier version of the plane.

"The Russians offer nothing unique technologically, but Airbus needs to spread costs, and because there's Russian government money available, the Russians can certainly do this," said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group, a Fairfax, Va.-based consulting company.

The two sides plan to identify the volume of cooperation by March, said Vadim Vlasov, head of EADS Russia.

Airbus is looking for subcontracting partners to work on at least 50 percent of the plane compared with about 30 percent on earlier projects. Airbus has already offered a 5 percent stake in the program to Chinese companies.

Russia's state-owned Vneshtorgbank owns a 5.02 percent stake in EADS after buying the shares on the open market earlier this year. Tom Enders, one of EADS's two co-chiefs, has said he sees the country as an important strategic partner, though EADS has indicated it doesn't plan to give Russia a seat on its board.