Airbus has said it has already given the best possible price quotations for the proposed 41 aircraft acquisition programme by Indian Airlines and there is no scope for further price reduction.
"We have already quoted an aggressive pricing to Indian Airlines in our sealed bid and the credibility of that bid will be lost if we negotiate the prices again," John Leahy, chief commercial officer of Airbus, told Business Standard, after a press conference organised by Airbus at the Le Bourget air show in Paris.
He was commenting on the recent decision of the pre-Public Investment Board meeting, which was attended by the civil aviation ministry, the finance ministry and the Planning Commission to rework the price estimates for the Rs 10,089 crore (Rs 100.89 billion) investment programme of Indian Airlines.
Boeing and Airbus are competing for the contract. The civil aviation ministry has been told that in view of the weakening value of the dollar against the rupee, the cost of aircraft should come down.
But the chief commercial officer of the EADS group said he did not think it was possible.
According to the chief executive officer of Airbus, Noel Forgerard, the aircraft manufacturer is incidentally planning to carry out an estimated cost reduction programme of 1.5 billion euros over the next two calendar years to meet the challenges of international competition in a recession hit aviation market.
Airbus is also supplying 30 aircraft to China in this year. Speaking on the issue, Forgerard said they were embarking on a massive technology transfer programme with China.
He said they had developed a close involvement with the local industry in the country and all the plane acquisition programmes, which had been deferred by China because of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, would be completed by the year-end.
However, Leahy said any support service for the Airbus planes in India would not be sourced from China, but would come from Toulouse, France.
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd already manufactures doors and parts of the nose under carriage of some of the Airbus aircraft in India.
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