AIX-EN-PROVENCE , France, July 5 (Reuters) : Airbus Group has not decided whether it will launch its proposed A330neo jet at this month's Farnborough Airshow but is confident about the outlook for plane orders at the gala event, its strategy chief Marwan Lahoud said on Saturday.
Airbus has drawn up plans to revamp its biggest-selling wide-body passenger jet to preserve a second front in its competition with the delayed Boeing 787 Dreamliner in addition to the new A350.
Lahoud said "the jury is still out" on whether the A330neo, a more efficient version of the 20-year-old A330 jet, would be launched at the July 14-20 airshow.
"The subject is still being discussed," he told reporters on the sidelines of an economic conference in southern France.
People familiar with the matter say technical work on the project, based on a Rolls-Royce engine and new wingtips, is complete and that barring surprises, the $2 billion revamp will go ahead soon, subject to board approval.
There will be two versions - upgrades of both types of A330, the 253-seat A330-200 and the 295-seat A330-300.
The board could discuss the issue before the airshow or at its next regular meeting tied to July 30 half-year results.
The project has already led to a war of words between Airbus and Boeing that is expected to spill over to the world's largest aviation event, held each summer in the English town of Farnborough or in Paris - in alternate years.
The two companies are involved in a strategic chess game at the lower end of the market for long-haul jets, with tens of billions of dollars' worth of business at stake. However there are concerns that the arrival of the A330neo could spark aggressive price competition for new orders.
Airbus has said the A330neo would have the same "cash operating costs" and cost much less to buy than the Boeing 787-9, Boeing's latest model due to make its debut at Farnborough.
Boeing disputes these assertions as well as Airbus's forecasts of more than 1,000 potential sales for the A330neo.
