Airbus says next jet 'evolutionary not revolutionary'

By Tim Hepher

TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) -Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said on Tuesday the planemaker's next single-aisle jet would be "evolutionary rather than revolutionary", but that this could include an open-rotor engine such as one being studied by supplier CFM.

The head of the world's largest planemaker was speaking at the start of an event aimed at focusing attention on ongoing innovation following the company's decision last month to delay development of a radical hydrogen-powered regional aircraft.

"There will be a significant step forward with the next generation of planes, and we're looking at technologies that will make a significant difference," Faury told the Airbus Summit.

Airbus and Boeing are years away from launching new jet programmes to replace their best-selling narrow-body models as they wait for the engine industry to make the next leap in fuel efficiency, which typically comes every 15 years or so.

Among designs under examination, French-U.S. venture CFM, the world's largest engine maker by units sold, is developing a demonstrator called RISE based on an efficient open fan, or visible rotor blades, with a target of 20% fuel savings by 2035.

Faury, who has previously said Airbus would launch a new mainstream jet by the end of the current decade, said the model would be "evolutionary ... maybe not revolutionary, even if an open rotor, in my view, is quite revolutionary. That's one of the things we are looking at with our friends from CFM."

Jointly owned by GE Aerospace and Safran, CFM competes with Pratt & Whitney to power medium-haul jets and Britain's Rolls-Royce is also eyeing a return to that segment.

Faury defended a decision to delay adoption of a smaller hydrogen plane with 100 seats, saying Airbus did not want to produce a "Concorde of hydrogen" - referring to the 1960s icon that captured worldwide imagination but racked up huge losses.

Airbus has not given a new timeline for the project, but the Force Ouvriere union said last month that staff had been told that the technology was running five to 10 years behind the pace needed to support an original 2035 target.

Faury said aviation's goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 was reachable but acknowledged it remained fragile as supplies of alternative fuel remain scarce.

"I don't think we are wrong to continue to pursue net zero by 2050 ... Maybe it's going to take a bit more time, but let's not be shy in the ambition," Faury said.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher. Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark Potter)