Airbus A350
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- “A350” redirects here. For the road, see A350 road.
As of May 2006, Airbus announced that it was reconsidering the A350 design. UThe proposed "new" A350 would become more of a competitor to the larger Boeing 777, with a larger fuselage cross-section able to accommodate up to 9 passengers per row. The A330 and previous iterations of the A350 would only be able to accommodate 8 passengers per row in normal configurations. This new development, which has yet to be formally adopted by Airbus, would push development back to 2012 at the earliest and would at least double the projected development cost. If the fuselage diameter is increased, Airbus are very likely to introduce more carbon composites into the fuselage to control aircraft weight. The wing is already mainly carbon composite.
On 17 July 2006, at the Farnborough Air Show, Airbus announced a redesign of the A350, focusing on a new fuselage cross-section wider than the existing Airbus widebody standard. Airbus refers to this as "XWB" or "Extra Wide Body" and states that from the point of view of a seated passenger, the cabin is a few inches wider at eye level than the competing Boeing 787. All of the A350XWB fleet will have a range of at least 8,500nm.
There are three aircraft in the proposed family:
- A350-800 a 270-seat to enter service in the first quarter of 2013. To be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1700 or General Electric GEnx engines.
- A350-900 a 314-seat to enter service mid-2012. To be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1700 with Airbus in talks with General Electric to offer a variant of the GEnx engine.
- A350-1000 a 375-seat to enter service in the first quarter of 2014. To be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1700 engines only.
History
When Boeing announced their 7E7 Dreamliner project (now known as the 787), they claimed lower operating costs of this airplane would make it a serious threat to Airbus' A330. Airbus initially rejected this claim, stating that the 787 was itself just a reaction to the A330, and that no response was needed to the 787.The airlines pushed Airbus to provide a competitor, as Boeing had committed the 787 to have 15% lower fuel consumption than the A330. Initially Airbus proposed a simple derivative of the A330, dubbed the A330-200Lite, with improved aerodynamics and engines. The airlines were not satisfied and Airbus committed €4 billion to a new design to be called the A350. The original version of the A350 superficially resembled the A330 due to its common fuselage assembly (now shared between the A330, A340 and A350). A new wing, engines and a horizontal stabilizer were to be coupled with new composite materials and production methods applied to the fuselage to make the A350 an almost all-new aircraft.
On 16 September 2004, Airbus president and CEO Noël Forgeard confirmed that a new project was under consideration, but did not give a project name, and would not state whether it would be an entirely new design or a modification of an existing product. Forgeard indicated that Airbus would finalise its concept by the end of 2004, begin consulting with airlines in early 2005, and aim to launch the new development programme at the end of that year.
On 10 December 2004 the boards of EADS and BAE Systems, the shareholders of Airbus, gave Airbus an "authorization to offer", and formally named it the A350."[Airbus to launch Boeing 7E7 rival]." BBC News. December 10 2004. In order not to upset the A330 market niche (as both have similar passenger capacity), the A350 is designed for longer ranges; from 7500 to 8800 nautical miles. This puts it squarely in competition with both Boeing's 787-9 and 777-200ER. The A350-900 gave Airbus, for the first time, a twinjet that rivals the 777-200ER's capacity and range and has generated a lot of interest. However, Airbus competes with the 787-3 and 787-8 with its A330.
The intention was that the A350 would be produced and assembled at the same facilities as the A330 and the A340, with however, additional risk-sharing partners and associates in China, Russia and other countries around the world. The market for aircraft in this size category is estimated at 3,300, including freighters, over the next 20 years, of which Airbus expected to obtain half.
The A350 project has been dogged by controversy from the start, as the aircraft comes in the middle of a trade dispute between the U.S. and the EU about government support for Boeing and Airbus. An agreement dating back from 1992 and rules laid down by the World Trade Organization govern what are allowable government subsidies to aircraft manufacturers. The U.S. contends loans given to Airbus under favorable conditions by European governments violate these rules, and has filed a complaint with the WTO. The EU has responded by filing its own complaint about alleged subsidies received by Boeing for the development of the 787 and previous aircraft, and alleged cross-subsidies from military projects.
On 11 January 2005, the United States and the European Union announced their agreement to settle the Airbus-Boeing subsidies conflict through bilateral talks. Both the U.S. and the EU have refrained from giving new aid to the respective companies. However, negotiations may have very well ended in failure, since the UK has provisionally approved government aid to Airbus."[Airbus claims agreement in principle for A350 funding]." Flight International. September 16 2005. The U.K. would provide Airbus with 379 Million Euros to help fund the project; in exchange, the composite wings of the A350 would be built in the U.K. thus saving some 10,000 jobs. For more on the subsidy dispute see the Airbus, Boeing and 787 entries.
Criticisms
Airbus faced criticism on the A350 project by the heads of the company's two largest customers, ILFC and GECAS. On 28 March 2006, in the presence of hundreds of top airline executives, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, of ILFC lambasted Airbus' strategy in bringing to market what they saw as "a Band-aid reaction to the 787," a sentiment which was echoed by GECAS president Henry Hubschman. Udvar-Hazy called on Airbus to bring a clean-sheet design to the table, or risk losing most of the market to Boeing."[Airplane kingpins tell Airbus: Overhaul A350]." Gates, D. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 29 March 2006."[Redesigning the A350: Airbus’ tough choice]." Hamilton, S., Leeham Company. Several days later, similar comments were made by Chew Choon Seng, CEO of Singapore Airlines. Chew stated, "having gone to the trouble of designing a new wing, tail, cockpit" and adding advanced new materials, Airbus "should have gone the whole hog and designed a new fuselage.""[Singapore Airlines Says Airbus Needs to Make A350 Improvements]." Michaels, D. and Lunsford, J. L. The Wall Street Journal. 7 April 2006. At the time, Singapore was reviewing bids for the 787 and A350. Airbus responded by stating it was considering improvements for the A350 to satisfy customer demands."[Criticism prompts Airbus to study options, CEO says]." Rothman, A. Bloomberg News. 11 April 2006. At the same time, Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert suggested that there would be no quick fixes, stating, "Our strategy isn't driven by the needs of the next one or two campaigns, but rather by a long-term view of the market and our ability to deliver on our promises.""[Airbus Considering Improvements to A350]." Associated Press. 10 April 2006. On 14 June 2006, Singapore Airlines announced it had selected the 787 over the A350. Emirates decided against making an order for the A350 because of weaknesses in the design, including a wing structure which was developed in the 1980s."[Pressure mounts following attack by Emirates]." Brierley, D. The Independent. 18 June 2006.As a result of these criticisms, in the Spring/Summer of 2006 Airbus undertook a major review of the A350 concept. There was some speculation that the revised aircraft would be called the Airbus A370. However, on 17 July 2006 Airbus announced that the redesigned aircraft would be called A350XWB (i.e. extra wide body).
The latest information Airbus has released indicates a family of all-new aircraft, with a slightly larger diameter fuselage than that of the 787. Three variants will be available. It is understood that one of these variants will have a range of more than 8800nm, exceeding that of the 787 and the original A350. The twin-aisle aircraft will seat economy class passengers 9 abreast, rather than the 8 proposed for the original A350. Airbus intend the A350XWB to compete with both the Boeing 787 and its larger cousin, the Boeing 777.
As in the original A350, the wing will be a carbon composite structure. The fuselage will also have a large percentage of carbon composite. Previously, Airbus had had some misgivings about the integrity of such a structure, should it be in collision with ground vehicles. Extra large windows will also be featured. The cockpit will be based on that of the A380 superjumbo.
Rolls-Royce have agreed with Airbus to supply a new variant of the Trent engine (75000-95000lbf static thrust) for the A350XWB. General Electric has confirmed that the A350-800 will be offered with a variant of the GEnx engine, and is in talks with Airbus about offering it on the A350-900. The A350-1000 will not be offered with GEnx engines.
Orders
Airbus signed its first customer for the A350 in December 2004; Air Europa, a Spanish airline, will receive the first of 10 A350-800s in 2011 for covering its routes to Latin America and the Far East. The order from US Airways, was subject to its merger with America West and includes a loan of $250 million to the new group from Airbus."[America West Holdings Corporation and US Airways Group, Inc. to Merge]." US Airways/America West Airlines press release.Originally, the A350 was to debut in 2010. Changes to the cockpit configuration have resulted in a revenue service start date of 2011."[Cockpit switch set to delay Airbus A350 three years behind Boeing 787]." Flight International. 28 February 2006. The complete redesign which has resulted in the A350XWB version has now pushed target entry into service to mid-2012.
The entry-into-service dates in the table below do not reflect the new delays to the programme.
| Date | Airline | EIS | Type | Engine | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A350-800 | A350-900 | A350-1000 | TBA | Options | GE ** | RR | |||
| 21 December 2004
|
Air Europa [link] | 2010 | 10 | 2 | ** | ||||
| 19 May 2005
|
US Airways [link] | 2011 | 20 | ** | |||||
| 14 June 2005 |
Qatar Airways [link] | 2010 | 60 | ** | |||||
| 14 June 2005
|
ALAFCO [link] | 2012 | 12 | 6 | ** | ||||
| 15 June 2005 |
GECAS [link] | ? | 10 | ** | |||||
| 15 June 2005 |
Kingfisher Airlines [link] | 2012 | 5 | ||||||
| 16 June 2005 |
TAM [link] | 2012 | 10 | 5 | ** | ||||
| 18 August 2005
|
CIT Group [link] | 2012 | 5 | ||||||
| 6 October 2005
|
TAP Portugal [link] | 2013 | 6 | 4 | |||||
| 13 October 2005
|
Eurofly [link] | 2013 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| 22 November 2005
|
ILFC [link] | 2012 | 6 | 6 | 8 | ||||
| 7 December 2005
|
Finnair [link] | 2012 | 9 | 4 |
| ||||
| 30 December 2005 |
Bangkok Airways [link] | 2012 | 6 | ||||||
| 10 January 2006
|
ILFC [link] | 2012 | 2 | 2 | align="center" | ||||
| 6 March 2006 |
Yemenia [link] | 2012 | 6 | 4 | |||||
| Sub-Totals: | 91 | 31 | 0 | 60 | 28 | 122 | 9 | ||
| Totals | 182 Orders (100 Firm, 82 Pending) | ||||||||
Technology
The A350 features a new cabin, new wings, new engines, a new tailplane, new landing gear and many new systems compared to the A330. It builds on the technologies developed for A380, such as composite materials. In total, 60% of the A350 will be constructed using advanced materials. 39% of the A350 will use composite materials while aluminum-lithium parts will comprise 23% of the aircraft; steel, 14%; aluminum, 11%; titanium, 9% and various other materials, the balance. The A350 will feature a new composite wing and a fuselage built primarily with advanced aluminum-lithium alloys. The extensive use of composite and Al-Li will lead to 8,000 kg (17,600 lb) of weight reduction.Airbus also has signed a firm contract with BMW to have them develop the interior of the aircraft."[BMW to design parts of Airbus A350 model, reportedly aircraft cabins]." Forbes. 5 January 2006.
Airbus plans to use bleed-air versions of the bleedless engine technology (Rolls-Royce Trent 1700 and General Electric GEnx engines) developed for the 787. Initial orders will use the GE GEnx, though Rolls-Royce offered the Trent 1700 beginning 6 October 2005.["Rolls-Royce to develop Trent 1700 for A350"], Kaminski-Morrow, D., Flight International, 6 October 2005. Four thrust ratings, from 63,000 to 75,000 lbf (280 kN to 334 kN) will be offered on the GEnx.
There was a precedent for updating an older airliner to compete with a newer offering. Boeing updated their 737 product which resulted in the Next Generation 737 (737NG) in order to achieve similar operating costs to Airbus' A320 series. However with the A350XWB Airbus has now decided to produce an all-new aircraft rather than an updated version of an existing aircraft.
Specifications
The following data and tables refers to the "original" version of the A350 (i.e. the one with the same fuselage cross-section as the A330/340). Data for the A350XWB are not yet available.
The cabin of the A350 will be 3 inches (75 mm) wider than the 787 and will offer more headroom. Also, the A350 will have 64 inches (1,63 m) in head clearance around the window (compared to 61.5 inches (1.56 m) for the 787)
There are two versions of the A350 proposed: the A350-800 and A350-900. They differ in the number of passengers they can accommodate, and their respective range capability. Boeing 787 data is included for comparison. The A350-800 is intended to compete with the 787-9, and the A350-900 is intended to compete with the 777-200ER.Flight International, 7 June 2005. With some concerns of the A350-900, Boeing will tackle the -900 with the Boeing 787-10 variant. With the news of an even larger Boeing 787, Airbus announced the A350-900X project. The -900X project is aimed to have 50+ seats, however the action stirred more criticism on the weight of the aircraft
| A350-800 | A350-900 [3] | A350-1000 | 787-9 [4] (for comparison) | 787-10 [4] (for comparison) | 777-200ER[Official 777 site]. (for comparison) | 777-300ER (for comparison) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length: | 58.8 m | 65.2 m | ??? | 63.0 m | 69.? m | 63.7 m | 73.9 m |
| Height: | 17.4 m | 17.4 m | ??? | 16.5 m | 17.0 m | 18.5 m | 18.7 m |
| Wing span: | 61.1 m | 61.1 m | ??? | 60.0 m | 60.? m | 60.9 m | 64.8 m |
| Cross section: | 5.82 m | 5.82 m | 5.82 m | 5.75 m | 5.75 m | 6.19 m | 6.19 m |
| Passengers: | 270 (3-cl) | 314 (3-cl) | 375 (3-cl) | 250-290 (2-to-3-cl) | 300-350 (2-to-3-cl) | 301 (3-cl) | 365 (3-cl) |
| Engine: | R-R Trent 1700 or GE GEnx | R-R Trent 1700 or GE GEnx* | R-R Trent 1700 | R-R Trent 1000 or GE GEnx | R-R Trent 1000 or GE GEnx | GE GE90-77B or P&W PW4077 or R-R Trent 877 | GE GE90-115B |
| MTOW (t): | 245.0 | 245.0 | ??? | 244.94 | 244.94 | 297.6 | 351.534 t |
| Empty weight (t): | 124.1 | 130.7 | ??? | 115.3 | 115.3 | 145.1 | ??? |
| Max fuel (l): | 139,100 | 139,100 | ??? | 138,700 | ??? | 171,160 | ??? |
| Cruise speed (M): | 0.82 (max 0.86) | 0.82 (max 0.86) | 0.82 (max 0.86) | 0.85 (max 0.89) | 0.85 (max 0.89) | 0.84 (max 0.89) | 0.84 (max 0.89) |
| Range: | 15,800 km (8,800 nm) | 15,800 km (8,800 nm) | ??? | 16,300 km (8,800 nm) | 15,700 km (8,500 nm) | 14,316 km (7,730 nm) | 14,630 km (7,900 nm) |
| Cost: | 3.5M | 0.5M | ??? | 8.5M | TBA | 0M | 7M |
References
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