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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 3353.PDF
AJJi fJiAMSPUnf AMAL/ZJSJ The big fan fight ARGUABLY, THE blood iest competitions in the big-twin fight have come not from the airframe selection, but over the engine choice. Three engine manufacturers and a relative scarcity of orders was a sure recipe for a life-or-death struggle. In the event, the first wave of competitions ends with Pratt & Whitney still a clear leader, but honours surprisingly even between Rolls-Royce and General Electric, although die balance has swung wildly with each new order. The Singapore Airlines (SIA) decision produced a sudden change in fortune for Rolls-Royce. The airline's selection of the Trent 800 on its 28 Boeing 777s virtually doubled the R-R tally of orders overnight. Although the UK engine maker had made a better showing with the Trent 700 on the A330, which is now close to being a two-horse race with P&W, its position on the 777 was looking highly precarious. Without the SIA order, it would have slipped almost out of sight. Instead, it emerges with a respectable enough market share. With South African Airways and the Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise, in which SIA has a 50% stake, still to select, there is a fair chance that R-R could make further progress. The SIA order also under lines the collapse in the once tightly drawn loyalties of air lines to their engine suppli ers. All but one ageing freighter within the SIA fleet has been P&W-powered. The carrier's president, Dr C K Cheong is unrepentant. "We don't have a one-engine policy and the Trent was con sidered a better engine," he says. R-R had already discov ered the new pragmatism to its cost, when General Electric stole into British Airways with the GE90-pow- ered 777. • IA provides twin boost for Boeing and Rolls-Royce Battle of the big twins Airbus and Boeing plan strategies for the next round of combat. KEVIN OTOOLE/LONDON JULIAN MOXON/PARIS PAUL LEWIS/DUBAI WITH THE SINGAPORE Airlines decision now announced, the first round in the battle of the big twins is drawing to a close. There are still a couple of major orders in prospect, but the initial round of cut-throat competitions between the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330/340 family have been settled. By early 1996, all of the basic air craft and engine permutations will have gone into service, giving both airframers and engine manufactur ers time to assess where they now stand and, more importantly, where they go next. On the current standings, Boeing appears to be ready to pull ahead. With the Singapore and Saudia decisions going to the 777, the programme now has a highly respectable tally of 230 firm orders. There are another 140 options, which stand a reasonable chance of being converted into future orders given the strength of the customer airlines. By contrast, the Airbus A3 30 total has been marooned at little above the 100 mark for the best part of three years after the initial burst of launch orders. The A340, with 147 firm orders to date, puts the family total at a more creditable 266, but still within easy striking distance of the 777. So far this year, Airbus has net ted just seven A3 30 orders and the A340 a meagre four. Even in 1994, when the European consortium made great play of the fact that it had beaten Boeing in sales for the first time ever, the A3 30 did not have a single order. The existing A3 30 orderbook is less than solid in places, with indus try onlookers raising question marks over the reliability of orders and options from customers such as GPA, Northwest Airlines and Trans World Airlines. Although the market appears to be swinging in favour of Seattle, the balance could still shift either way. The battle for Malaysia Airlines is the last of the big con tests now in progress, although a fresh wave of competitions is likely some time in the next year as the so-far uncommitted US carriers and, possibly, the leasing compa nies begin to declare their hands. The emerging pattern appears to be that the 777 is winning out in terms of size, helped by the occa sional political decision in favour of a US manufacturer. The demand from customers is for the aircraft to get bigger still. Boeing's 420-seat 777-300 version garnered 36 orders from its launch in June at Paris. Others are likely to switch existing orders to these larger types as they come into service. Singapore Airlines is typical. Its base order is for 28 of the heavier 777-200IGW version, but says it that it will move up to bigger or extended-range types as they appear on the market. Both airframers, having seen the basic types safely launched into the market, have entered the next round of the competition looking to offer a series of stretches, shrinks and extended ranges. Airbus, keen to find a new niche for its big twin, is placing top prior ity on the development of a longer- range version of the A330, called theA330-M10. The shortened, 250-seat, air craft, which is due for a launch before the end of the year, is target ed against the Boeing 767-300ER, offering what Airbus claims will be a more modern and cheaper alter native. It claims a 9% advantage on •i'MIJIJ,',M ENGINE TYPE CF6-80C2 PW4000 Trent 700 TBD TOTAL IM«dH!M:IJ:W.»l:W:Hilil AIRCRAFT SHARE OF ORDERS ORDERS 18 15% 52 44% 40 34% 9 8% 119 100% ;.!a;!a.»!l:l: CUSTOMERS NUMBER 2 7 6 1 16 Willi™ AIRCRAFT OPTIONS 0 14 18 0 32 SHARE OF OPTIONS 0% 44% 56% 0% 100% 16 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22 - 28 November 1995
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