Singapore -- Airbus Chief Salesman John Leahy hinted at the development of an ultra-long range A350 XWB with the -900 variant as the platform for such expansion.
The new product would be designated the A350-900R and likely replace the A340-500 in the Airbus product line.
The aircraft would be the fifth member in the XWB family. The -900R would potentially be available following certification and entry into service of the A350-1000 and Freighter models in the second half of the next decade.
The announcement came this morning at the Airbus press conference.
More on this, including audio of the answer to the ultra long range aircraft question which was posed by this blogger on location.
UPDATE 1:08 PM: Listen to the audio of the question.
Filed Wirelessly
on February 20, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply
A350-900XWBR and A350XWBF? Somebody needs to stop inventing new types before they freeze the configuration of the first one.
on February 20, 2008 6:30 PM | Reply
I thought news on the 900-R had been around for a while:
http://www.airbus.com/en/aircraftfamilies/a350/
on February 20, 2008 9:40 PM | Reply
It has indeed, the product line up and EIS sequence since launch at Farnborough was always -900 (2012), -800 (2013), -1000 (2014), -900F (2015+), -900R(?).
on February 21, 2008 5:06 AM | Reply
How are they going to pay for development of that aircraft since they don't have money to start the development of the first A350
on February 21, 2008 5:06 AM | Reply
It has indeed, the product line up and EIS sequence since launch at Farnborough was always -900 (2012), -800 (2013), -1000 (2014), -900F (2015+), -900R(?).
They will end up with a very heavy -800XWB.
on February 21, 2008 10:15 AM | Reply
Who knows what version is going to have what kind of range. Every other month Airbus seems to claim all their versions of this unbuilt and unproven A-350 is going to have more and more range. Seems a little fishy to me.
on February 21, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply
Q: Who knows what version is going to have what kind of range.
A: I spoke with a rep. from Airbus this morning and the ULR A350 would have a range equivalent of the A340-500 which it would eventually replace. They said it would come in at about 9000 nm. They prefaced that comment saying that it hadn't been launched yet.
Jon
on February 21, 2008 10:12 PM | Reply
Well i see a lot of airbus bashing posts here like where will they get the money to finance the A350 project & questions about range & talks that its not been built yet & unproven ,is just speculations & a bunch of crap , Airbus will build the A350 In diffrent variations & mind you they promised their customers that it will be better than the competition , so none of us should worry about what they say...