TOKYO: Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA), one of the largest customers for Boeing's troubled Dreamliner, said Monday it was considering Airbus's A350 as it looks to replace its Boeing 777 fleet.
"We don't deny that it is one of the possible options," said ANA spokesman Motoki Nishinaka. "We always study which model would be best suited to our needs."
ANA is the single biggest operator of Boeing's flagship 787, which has been beset by difficulties since the testing phase.
More seriously, the worldwide fleet of Dreamliners, touted for their fuel efficiency at a time airlines are desperately looking to reduce costs, was grounded in January after two next-generation lithium-ion batteries went wrong.
Regulators ordered planes everywhere to be grounded while Boeing worked to find out the reason for the overheating that in one case led to a fire on a parked plane in the US.
A battery fix was finally approved, even though the US planemaker said it did not know exactly what had caused the malfunction.
ANA resumed full operation of its 787s on Saturday.
The airline's spokesman said the travails of the Dreamliner would be irrelevant when a new wide-body plane is considered to replace the B777.
ANA currently has 49 777s.
"Regardless of the 787 issues, the company will choose the model that best suits our business strategy," he said.
Boeing is also understood to have viable replacement models.
ANA operates around a third of the 50 Dreamliners Boeing has delivered.
Airbus has said it has decided to drop lithium-ion batteries that were planned for the new A350 aircraft it is developing, and to use heavier nickel-cadmium batteries instead.
Japan's Nikkei daily reported earlier this year that ANA's rival Japan Airlines is considering purchasing about 20 A350s after 2017 to replace its B777s.
Japanese aviation is seen as something of a fortress for Boeing, which sources a number of parts from manufacturers in the country. Airbus has only around 10 percent of the market. (AFP)
