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Airbus A350

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"A350" redirects here. For the road, see A350 road.

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The Airbus A350 is a long-range, mid-sized, widebody family of airliners currently under development, designed to compete with the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787. It will also compete with Airbus' own A330 and A340, as plans to discontinue those models have not been announced.

Development

Early designs

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 20% 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. 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, then 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, then the shareholders of Airbus, gave Airbus an "authorisation to offer (ATO)", and formally named it the A350.[1]

On 6 October 2005 full industrial launch of the program was announced with an estimated development cost of around € 3.5 billion. This version of the A350 was planned to be a 250–300-seat twin-engined widebody aircraft derived from the design of the existing A330. Under this plan, the A350 would have modified wings and new engines while sharing the same fuselage cross-section as its predecessor. It was to see entry into service in 2010 in two versions; the A350-800 capable of flying 8,800 nautical miles (16,300 km) with typical passenger capacity of 253 in 3-class configuration and the 300-seat (3-class) A350-900 with 7,500 nautical mile (13,890 km) range. It was designed to be a direct competitor to the 787-9, and 777-200ER.

Almost immediately Airbus faced criticism on the A350 project by the heads of two of its 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.[2][3]

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."[4] 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.[5] At the same time, Airbus then-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."[6]

On 14 June 2006, Singapore Airlines announced it had selected the 787 over the A350, ordering 20 787-9s.[7] Emirates decided against making an order for the A350 because of weaknesses in the design.[8]

Design iterations

The major incarnations:

  1. A330-200Lite [citation needed]
  2. A330-200Lite + GEnx/T1700, now badged as the A350
  3. A350, initial GLARE [citation needed] incarnation, 2010 EIS (with wider interior cabin)
    Above with wider interior cabin (couple of inches [citation needed])
  4. Above with A380 cockpit (this modification alone added several months delay)[9]
  5. A350 XWB, GLARE version, 2012 EIS[9]
  6. A350 XWB, CFRP version, 2013 EIS[9]

XWB

As a result of these criticisms, in mid-2006 Airbus undertook a major review of the A350 concept. The proposed new A350 was to become more of a competitor to the larger Boeing 777 as well as the Boeing 787, with a larger fuselage cross-section able to accommodate 9 passengers per row in economy class. The A330 and previous iterations of the A350 would only be able to accommodate 8 passengers per row in normal configurations. The 787 can accommodate 8 or 9 passengers per row, while the 777 can accommodate 9 passengers per row (or rarely, 10). There was some speculation that the revised aircraft would be called the Airbus A370 or A280, with Airbus going as far as accidentally publishing an advert referring to the aircraft as the "A280" on the Financial Times website. However, on 17 July 2006, at the Farnborough Air Show, Airbus announced that the redesigned aircraft would be called A350 XWB (Xtra Wide Body).

Airbus achieved its first sale of the redesigned A350 four days after its unveiling when Singapore Airlines announced an order for 20 A350 XWBs with options of a further 20. Its CEO, Chew Choon Seng, said in a statement, that "it is heartening that Airbus has listened to customer airlines and has come up with a totally new design for the A350." [10]

Late in 2006 a decision on formal launch was delayed as a result of delays of the Airbus A380.[11] and wrangles about how the development would be funded. EADS CEO Thomas Enders stated that the A350 program was not a certainty, citing EADS/Airbus' stretched resources.[12][13] On 1 December 2006 the EADS board agreed the industrial launch of the sixth iteration[14] A350 with costs mainly borne out of cash-flow. First delivery for the -900 is scheduled for mid-2013, with the -800 and -1000 following on, respectively, 12 and 24 months later.[15] At a press conference 4 December 2006 a few new technical details of the A350XWB design were revealed, but no new customers were identified and John Leahy indicated existing A350 contracts were under re-negotiation due to increases in prices compared to the original A350s contracted.

On 4 January 2007, Airbus announced that Pegasus Aviation Finance Company had placed the first firm order for the A350 XWB with an order for two aircraft, though the variants were unspecified at the time.[16]

The A350 will have a fuselage cross-section wider than the original A350 (see History) which used the existing Airbus widebody standard. Airbus refers to this as "XWB" or "Xtra Wide Body" and states that from the point of view of a seated passenger, the cabin is 5 inches wider at eye level than the competing Boeing 787. All A350 XWB passenger models will have a range of at least 8,000 nautical miles.

The aircraft will have a cruising speed of approximately Mach 0.85, similar to the Boeing 787 or Boeing 747, and Airbus claims that its maintenance costs will be 10% lower than for the 787. The A350 will have a common cockpit with the Airbus A380. Airbus also claims that the A350-900 will have fuel consumption per seat 7% lower than the Boeing 787-9. However, Boeing argues that the A350-900 should not be compared to the 787-9 as it is considerably larger. The A350 is to have large windows and will be pressurised to 6,000 feet or lower with a cabin air humidity of at least 20%.

The Airbus board of directors approved the industrial launch of the A350-800 / -900 & -1000 in December 2006 . The XWB will impose a couple of years of delay into the original timetable and almost double development costs from $5.3 billion to approximately $10 billion.[17][18]

During 2007 Paris Air Show, in a major boost for the program, Airbus has won firm orders for 141 A350 XWB.

Design

File:A350-Cockpit.jpg
Cockpit of the Airbus A350

The A350 features composite wings, rear fuselage and fuselage skin (with aluminium ribs), new engines, new landing gear and many new systems compared to the A330. It builds on the technologies developed for A380 and has a similar cockpit layout. 52% of the aircraft will be made out of composites, 20% Al/Al-Li, 14% titanium, 7% steel and 7% the balance. [19] This compares to the 787, which consists of 50% composites, 20% Aluminium, 15% titanium, 10% steel and 5% the balance. [20]

Airbus had signed a firm contract with BMW to have them develop an interior concept for the original A350.[21]

For the engines Airbus has confirmed that they will retain a full bleed air system on their engines[22], rather than the bleedless configuration used on the 787. Rolls-Royce has agreed with Airbus to supply a new variant of the Trent engine for the A350 XWB, currently called the Trent XWB, which will have a static thrust of 75000-95000 lbf.

Rolls Royce is the only engine supplier to date to announce that their engines will feature on the A350 XWB. GE have stated they will not offer the GP7000 on the aircraft, and that previous contracts for the GEnx on the original A350 did not apply to the XWB. [23]

In April 2007, Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois has held face-to-face talks with senior General Electric management over finalizing the possible go-ahead of a new variant of the GEnx engine for the A350 XWB. Airline pressure for a GE engine option is believed to be coming particularly from US Airways and Singapore Airlines, as well as others within the original launch group that either originally selected GE or that have not yet settled for the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered option. Qatar airways have announced that they will use Rolls Royce engines on their aircraft. [24] In June, 2007 Airbus' John Leahy has indicated that the GEnx engine will not feature on the A350, claiming that Airbus wants GE to offer a more efficient version for the new Airbus airliner. [25]

The A350 fuselage will have a constant cross-section from door 1 to door 4, unlike previous Airbus aircraft. This is to provide maximum usable volume. John Leahy refers to the old design as "Airbus taper". In another change from the earlier A350 the fuselage is to be ovoid rather than circular.

Although Airbus previously suggested Boeing's use of composite materials for the 787 fuselage was premature, and that the A350's would be made from aluminium-lithium, the A350XWB is to have a composite main fuselage skin on an Al/Al-Li frame. This differs slightly from the 787 design which uses ovoid skin barrels on titanium ribs.[19]

Airbus has yet to decide whether the forward fuselage and cockpit will be made from Al/Al-Li or a one-piece composite structure, like the rear fuselage.

Variants

There are three variants of the A350 and all launched in 2006. The A350-900 will enter service in 2013. The A350-800 will enter service in 2014. The last to enter service will be the A350-1000 in 2015.

A350-800

The A350-800 will seat 270 passengers in a 3-class cabin and has a range of 8,300 nm (15,400 km).

A350-900

The A350-900 is the first to enter service in 2013 and seats 314 passengers in a 3-class cabin. The airplane has a range of 8,100 nm (15,000 km).

A350-1000

The A350-1000 will enter service in 2015. It is the largest variant of the A350 family and will seat 350 passengers in a 3-class cabin. It has a range of 8,000 nm (14,800 km).

Orders and deliveries

Main article: List of Airbus A350 orders

This plane has not yet entered service. To see a list of all current orders please see List of Airbus A350 orders.

Specifications

Model A350-800 A350-900 A350-1000
Cockpit Crew Two
Passengers 270 3-class
312 2-class		 314 3-class
366 2-class		 350 3-class
412 2-class
Length 198 ft 6 in (60.5 m) 219 ft 3 in (66.8 m) 242 ft 3 in (73.8 m)
Wingspan 209 ft 10 in (64 m)
Wing Sweepback 4,740 ft2 (440 m2)
Wing Area 35°
Height 55 ft 5 in (16.9 m)
Fuselage Width 19 ft 4 in (5.90 m)
Cabin Width 18 ft 4 in (5.60 m)
Cargo Capacity 26 LD3 36 LD3 44 LD3
Max. Takeoff Weight 540,000 lb (245,000 kg) 580,000 lb (265,000 kg) 650,000 lb (295,000 kg)
Cruise Speed .85 Mach (561 mph at 40,000 ft)
Maximum Cruise Speed .89 Mach (587 mph at 40,000 ft)
Range, Loaded 8,300 nm (15,400 km) 8,100 nm (15,000 km) 8,000 nm (14,800 km)
Max. Fuel 39,682 US gal (150,000 L)
Service Ceiling 43,000 ft (13,100 m)
Engines (2×) RR Trent XWB
Max. Thrust 75,000 lbf 87,000 lbf 95,000 lbf

References

  1. ^ "Airbus to launch Boeing 7E7 rival." BBC News. 10 December 2004.
  2. ^ "Airplane kingpins tell Airbus: Overhaul A350." Gates, D. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 29 March 2006.
  3. ^ "Redesigning the A350: Airbus’ tough choice." Hamilton, S., Leeham Company.
  4. ^ "Singapore Airlines Says Airbus Needs to Make A350 Improvements." Michaels, D. and Lunsford, J. L. The Wall Street Journal. 7 April 2006.
  5. ^ "Criticism prompts Airbus to study options, CEO says." Rothman, A. Bloomberg News. 11 April 2006.
  6. ^ "Airbus Considering Improvements to A350." Associated Press. 10 April 2006.
  7. ^ Singapore Airlines 787 Dreamliner Announcement Press release
  8. ^ "Pressure mounts following attack by Emirates." Brierley, D. The Independent. 18 June 2006.
  9. ^ a b c "Airbus, Boeing to benefit from US Airways, Delta merger." Hamilton, Scott. Leeham & Company. November 21, 2006.
  10. ^ Singapore Airlines orders 20 Airbus A350 XWB-900s and 9 Airbus A380s
  11. ^ "A380 delay puts brakes on A350 XWB formal launch at Airbus." Norris, G.; Kingsley-Jones, M. Flight International. 10 October 2006.
  12. ^ "Airbus May Stop Work on Its A350 Plane, FT Deutschland Says." Dinkloh, P. Bloomberg. 2006-10-05.
  13. ^ "Airbus CEO Streiff says A350 programme essential, but EADS board to decide." Forbes. 5 October 2006.
  14. ^ "Airbus Gets OK to Compete with Boeing 787." Chicago Sun-Times via Aircraft Maintenance Technology. 21 December 2006.
  15. ^ "A350 XWB Family receives industrial go-ahead" (Press release). EADS Airbus. 2006-12-01. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
  16. ^ "Pegasus Aviation Finance Company orders two A350XWB and six A330-200s" (Press release). EADS Airbus. 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
  17. ^ "Airbus Unveils New A350 to Take on Boeing's 787." Bloomberg. July 17 2006.
  18. ^ "Airbus A350 Cost Rises to $15.4 Billion on Composites." Bloomberg. December 4 2006.
  19. ^ a b Airbus's A350 vision takes shape Flight International Cite error: The named reference "Airbus's A350 vision takes shape" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  20. ^ 787 fact sheet Boeing
  21. ^ "BMW to design parts of Airbus A350 model, reportedly aircraft cabins." Forbes. 5 January 2006.
  22. ^ "Airbus Unveils A350 XWB." Steinke, S. Flug Revue. September, 2006.
  23. ^ Daily News - No GP7000 for A350 XWB-1000
  24. ^ Airbus lobbies General Electric to offer GEnx for A350 XWB
  25. ^ Airbus Says No To GEnx For A350 XWB Aero News Network June 7, 2007

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