Fuel challenge brings Airbus and Boeing closer

FARNBOROUGH (Reuters) - It would be hard to find two fiercer rivals than U.S. planemaker Boeing and Europe's Airbus as they battle it out over orders, government subsidies and a $35 billion (17.5 billion pounds) aerial tanker deal.

But as the aviation industry wrestles with a fresh set of challenges that threaten to plunge their airline customers back into billions of dollars of losses this year, the archrivals put on a show of unity on one subject: fuel efficiency.

"This issue has made us better friends as we learn from each other," Boeing commercial plane chief Scott Carson told a news conference at the Farnborough Airshow on Monday, referring to Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders.

Carson and Enders plan to set aside their rivalry on Wednesday as they take the stage at the Farnborough sustainable aviation conference.

The two planemakers and their engine suppliers are under increasing pressure to develop more fuel efficient products for airline customers struggling to cope with the high cost of kerosene resulting from record oil prices.

At an aviation and environmental summit in Geneva earlier this year, Carson and Enders signed an agreement to work together to improve global air traffic management to reduce the impact of aviation.

Enders said then that "where Boeing and Airbus share a common position on the environment and safety, it is in all our interests that we cooperate to achieve our common goals more quickly".

(Reporting by James Regan)