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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2567.PDF
DEVELOPMENT GRAHAM WARWICK / NEW YORK & MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON Airbus bullish on A350 prospects Green light for new twinjet expected this month as manufacturer releases more details on design and performance Airbus executives are confident that the A350 will get a go-ahead this month, despite failing to win board approval from majority shareholder EADS as expected last week. Meanwhile, the manufac turer has released details on how the new family will compare with its Boeing equivalents. "The reaction from the market to the A350 has been even better than we imagined," said Airbus vice pres ident customer affairs Adam Brown, speaking at last week's Institute of Economic Affairs' The Future of Air Transport conference in London. "I expect it will get the go-ahead in a matter of weeks." The Airbus board is understood to have approved the launch last month of the two-pronged A350 family - the -800 and -900 devel oped from the A330-2O0 and A330- 300, respectively - which will rival the Boeing 7E7. EADS, which owns 80% of Airbus, had been expected to give the A350 the green light during a meeting in late November, but speaking in New York, EADS co- Seats 243 217 Range (km) 15,900 15,700 Block fuel/seat* -2.5% D Cash operating cost/seat* -7% D Max weight empty per seat* -3% D Noise (QC)- 0.5/1 0.5/1 0.: Danish cargo operator Star Air is undertaking major expansion of its freighter fleet with the acquisition of 11 Boeing 767-200 converted freighters on lease from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). The aircraft, converted under the Israel Aircraft Industries modifica tion programme, will replace the airline's three 757-200 freighters to lent chief executive Rainer Hertrich said iead that the purpose of the meeting was win to review product strategy and it irity was not to give authority to offer, last This he expects at EADS's December fac- board meeting - believed to be tow scheduled for 10 December, vith Co-chief executive Philippe Camus pointed out that BAE :tto Systems' board must also give its han approval. The UK-based company, ires- which holds the remaining 20% of wn, Airbus, says it is "working seam- e of lessly with EADS" to launch the r r programme. l. I Also speaking in New York, i a Airbus chief commercial officer John Leahy said that the A350-800 ood will have "8,500nm [15,700km]" last range, but emphasised that it was .350 not a replacement for the A330. He :vel- says that the entry into service tar- 530- get for the new family is May 2010 ival - two years after the 7E7-8. wns Leahy says that changes to the :ted A330 to create the A350 include: ight • 7E7-technology engines with iber, all-titanium engine pylons; > co- • new wing - drag improvements, -3% D -6% D D -10% D 0.5/1 0.5/1 0.5/1 1/2 s provide much-needed capacity for its its long-term contract with express ion package carrier United Parcel rted Service (UPS). lital Star Air, which is the cargo arm of Maersk Air, will receive the first the 767 in March with deliveries con- ka- eluding in May 2006. The aircraft the will be operated primarily from s to UPS's European hub at carbonfibre outer wing box, car- bonfibre centre wing box; passive and active load alleviation; • new rear fuselage (aluminium- lithium or carbonfibre) and hori zontal tail; • new cabin Leahy says the flightdeck and sys tems will be based on the A330 to retain a common flightcrew rating. Both 7E7 engine options (Gen eral Electric GEnx and Rolls-Royce Trent 1000) are expected to be of fered on the A350, although Leahy says only that Airbus has com pleted negotiations with GE over the use of the GEnx. He says that the aircraft could be built on the same final assembly line as the A330/A340 in Toulouse, but Airbus Cologne/Bonn airport. The 767s will be converted in Porto Alegre, Brazil by the 767 conversion joint venture formed last year between IAI and Varig Engineering & Maintenance (VEM). Meanwhile, Tampa Cargo, which was launch customer for the IAI conversion programme, has taken delivery of its second of four UK will build the wing on a differ ent line. The A350 will have a higher price than the equivalent 7E7, because of its better cost performance, but it will not cost more on a per seat basis, says Leahy. Airbus sees a market over the next 20 years for 3,100 aircraft in the A3S0's category - 1,800 in the 250-seat category (A330-200, A350- 800 and 7E7-8) and 1,300 in the 300-seat sector (including A330-300, A350-900, 7E7-9 and 777-200 mod els). Leahy says talks are under way with potential A350 launch cus tomers, including an undisclosed US airline (believed to Northwest Airlines), US lessors, and Asian and European carriers. 767-200 freighters following its conversion in Tel Aviv. Of the two remaining aircraft, one will be modified by IAI in Israel and the other in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Tampa Cargo is using the new 767 fleet to boost capacity and to serve new markets including the recently inaugurated flights to Santiago de Chile. A350-900 275 14,100 = 7E7-9 257 15,000 D A350-900 275 14,100 -20% 777-200ER 290 14,200 D Source: Airbus 'Difference with Boeing model as datum (D). = means performance is similar "Quota count for take-off/approach mat potential customers are pusnmg tor, it cannot wait mat long. The larger versions of the two rival aircraft are being evaluated by several potential 7E7 customers such as Qatar Airways and Northwest Airlines. FREIGHTERS Star Air kicks off fleet expansion with 767-200s SCHEDULE MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON Launch customers could force earlier debut for 7E7 stretch Boeing admits it could be forced to agree to an earlier service entry date for its 7E7-9 stretch than is ideal due to pressure from potential launch cus tomers and the earlier availability of the Airbus A350. Since the launch of the baseline 217-seat 7E7-8 in April, the US manufac turer has been planning to introduce the stretch no earlier than two years after the -8's April 2008 target. As recently as the Farnborough air show in July Boeing said that the -9's service entry target had been pushed back to four years after the -8 to 2012, but Boeing vice-president for marketing Randy Baseler concedes that due to customer pressure it is looking at late 2010. "People are asking us to commit to 2010...as they have a friend in Toulouse who can," says Baseler - referring to the A350. "Ideally, we'd like to wait at least two years after the -8 for technical reasons," says Baseler. Boeing would like fly the -8 before commiting to the -9's specification to "understand the performance and structure fully", he adds, but to achieve the 2010 date that potential customers are pushing for, it cannot wait that long. The larger versions of the two rival aircraft are being evaluated by several potential 7E7 customers such as Qatar Airways and Northwest Airlines. 12 7-13 DECEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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