Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier said that
his company is running the numbers on the long-legged jet, which would be based
on the A350-900 and has been dubbed the 'A350-900LR'.
"We are studying it, we are not
developing it" Brégier qualified, when asked about this latest skew
on the A350 family during a press briefing in Toulouse.
Source: Airbus
"We know
the A350 would be capable of what we call ultra-long range missions, flights of
18 or 19 hours, with some limited modifications" Brégier said.
"It's a niche market," Brégier
added, saying the A350-900LR would add to the overall appeal of the A350
line-up, which from mid-2017 will include the larger A350-1000.
Source: Getty Images
"We
see customers who want the versatility of the family, so if they want
to try long range we can also offer that."
The 900LR variant would see additional
fuel tanks added to the A350-900 to boost its range.
Source: Jujug Spotting
Airbus
executive vice president for strategy and marketing, Kiran Rao, recently
suggested the A350-900LR would carry fewer passengers, saying "I can’t go
into details on the type of layouts they’re looking at but it would be a
premium service."
Source: Airbus
Singapore Airlines has
been lobbying both Airbus and Boeing for a globe-spanning jet, which would
allow it to resume non-stop flights between Singapore and the USA, potentially
including a 19 hour trek to New York.
The airline previously ran ‘all
business class’ flights to Los Angeles and NY-adjacent Newark on the older
four-engined Airbus A340 but axed the service in 2013 due to the rising
fuel costs.
Would this have to be recertified?
ReplyDeleteThe modifications obviously would need a cert.
Deletewhich would be minimal for the "A350-900lr"
( MTOW boost ( 280t versus 275t increase already from 268t ) + containerized AUX tankage), lighter everything.
much higher for the orignal A350-900R: backport of
the -1000 wing, gears, whatnot ..
( actually more like a complete -1000 wing/gears/middle-fuselage
+ -800 head and tail )
Airbus has a knack for low hanging fruit improvements. cue A330.
while Boeing seems to go for significant redesigns to capability upgrade their models.
Whatever.
Delete7 A350-900-LR seem to have been sold to SQ for delivery 2018 onwards. tentative range 8,700nm
It will allow a flight between Perth to LHR?
ReplyDeleteThe Aircraft would obviously do the distance but how many passengers would want to stay on any aircraft for 19hrs? Bad enough with 12 hour flights!
ReplyDeleteHas the A350-900LR an ETOPS of more than 370minutes?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWould there be a need?
Delete370 minutes already doesn't leave all that much "off limits".
Would 8700 nm be enough? Didn't the A345 have over 9000 nm and still needed modifications to fly that route? Why not go for the 777-8 then or ask for the original -900R?
ReplyDeleteWould 8700 nm be enough? Didn't the A345 have over 9000 nm and still needed modifications to fly that route? Why not go for the 777-8 then or ask for the original -900R?
ReplyDelete