Toulouse: Airbus has studied alternatives to lithium-ion batteries for its next jet, the A350, and has time to adapt to any rule changes prompted by the problems that have grounded Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner, its top executive said. Airbus plans to use lithium-ion batteries on the A350, similar to the technology incorporated in Boeing's 787 airliners, and so far has stood by the modern power packs.
"We studied the integration of these batteries on the A350 very carefully," Airbus chief executive Fabrice Bregier told a group of French aerospace journalists on Thursday. "I am very relaxed about this." The first US grounding of a new model of passenger jet in over 30 years has focused attention on the risks that lithium-ion batteries can overheat and ignite a fire that is harder to put out than most flames, because of the solvents involved. Airbus warned about the risks of lithium-ion batteries at a closed meeting of airlines in March 2011, according to a presentation reported earlier this week.
01/02/13 Reuters/Daily News & Analysis
