A 2nd A350 FAL in China in the future?

Airbus will spare no effort to be the dominant player in China, with its president and CEO pledging a personal commitment to the manufacturer's partnerships in the country.

Source: FranceBleu

Speaking to the media ahead of the groundbreaking of its A330 completion and delivery centre in Tianjin, the manufacturer’s first outside of its European home ground, Airbus chief Fabrice Bregier said he first mooted the idea of the widebody facility 2 years ago, believing it to be a necessary step to capture China’s ballooning demand for larger jets.

 “So, we are targeting widebodies in China and focusing first on the A330," said Bergier.

Source: FranceBleu

"We’re also looking for partners to make sure A330 production will remain at high levels, and came to the conclusion that we could not do that without also having a strong industrial footprint.”

True enough, China signed for 45 A330s when Airbus inked the agreement for the A330 completions line, and later also firmed options for a further 30 of the type.

Source: Airbus

Bregier pointed out that the 75 A330s are the largest order for widebodies from China thus far.

He described this as “only the beginning of a very long and successful journey”.

Once operational in 2017, Tianjin will become the 3rd city in the world to deliver both narrowbody and widebody aircraft, after Toulouse and Seattle.

Source: FranceBleu

Airbus also intends to extend the line to complete the A330neo and A350 in the future, knowing full well the importance of the market, which absorbs about 20% of its annual aircraft production.

Bregier contended that its A320 final assembly line in Tianjin has played a critical role to grow its China marketshare from 27% in 2004 to the current 50%.

Source: Airbus

He therefore does not rule out the possibility of setting up a widebody production line in the country, but points out that Airbus does not at current have a business case to do so. Widebody assembly, he says, is “more complex and costly”.

“China has focused, rightly so, on single-aisle a lot and will continue to procure lots of single-aisles, but I’m sure the next step will be getting more widebodies. So perhaps one day there will be enough market to look at such an investment.”

“We have to be realistic, we will not get 80% of the Chinese market. Being above 50% is my target. In the coming years there will be new players such as Comac, this is why we support our commercial efforts through this very important A330 completion centre investment.”

 

Based on the article “Airbus chief discusses China production strategy” published in Flight Global.

Emirates tries to push Airbus for A380neo instead of stretched A350-1000

Emirates President Tim Clark faulted Airbus for lacking a coherent strategy on its biggest airplanes, saying Airbus should focus on an upgrade of its A380 rather than spend resources on yet another variant of its A350 model.

 

Source: Getty Images

 

Emirates scrapped a deal for 70 A350s (50 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000 in Jun/2014) and is currently weighing the A350-900 against Boeing’s 787-9 and 787-10.

Emirates is also the world’s leading wide-body operator, with 140 A380 orders and currently 75 planes in the fleet.

Source: Singapore Airlines

Airbus’s thinking has become increasingly hard to read and talk of further extending the stretched A350-1000 makes little sense, Clark said adding that he’s not sure the manufacturer could afford to fund that project alongside the upgraded A380 he’s keen to buy.

“There seems to be a certain amount of cloudiness,” Clark said. “They’ve got the A380neo and then bingo, out pops the new A350-1000. I’m not quite sure how that’s going to pan out.”

Source: Airbus

 

 

Airbus’s increasing focus on a double-stretch A350 is of less interest to Emirates because the plane would compete with the largest version of Boeing’s revamped 777X - an aircraft it’s already taking.

Clark said a bigger A350 would add weight and create issues at airports because of the extra length.

Leahy said last week that Airbus isn’t interested in swaying Gulf carriers that are buying the 777X, adding that he’d prefer to “optimize an airplane” for customers such as United Airlines and British Airways that don’t require the performance to operate from very hot desert environments.

Based on the article “Emirates Blasts Airbus for Confused Strategy on Wide-Body Jets” published in Bloomberg

Airbus is in active discussions with various Chinese airlines regarding the A350 because Airbus is confident that it is the right aircraft for Chinese airlines to operate to Europe and North America.

Source: Airbus

Air China is Airbus’ only A350 Chinese customer, with an order for 10 A350-900s.

But the lack of early available delivery slots for the A350 is a major challenge for Airbus as it pitches the type to Chinese customers.

Source: A380_TLS_A350

“Our industrial constraint is that you need to place the order well in advance to ensure delivery at a given period… so with 800 A350s being ordered, of course it’s a mathematical exercise,” said Airbus China president and chief executive Eric Chen.

Source: Airbus

The problem in particular for Chinese customers, is that they plan their fleet requirements in 5-year periods, and are cautious when it comes to ordering aircraft beyond that timeframe. The next five year period covers 2016 to 2020.

Source: Airbus

“We’re trying to satisfy our customers, but yes I have slot issues,” says Chen.

“The key for us is industrial ramp up to produce enough production required by the market. That for me is a real challenge.”

Based on the article “A350 slot constraints pose challenge for Airbus in China” published in FlightGlobal.

Singapore Airlines plans 2 months of regional routes with A350 for crew training.

Singapore Airlines has become the 5^th A350 XWB operator with the delivery of its 1^st aircraft last Tuesday 2/March .

Source: @DawnTanCNA

Singapore Airlines’ aircraft has been configured with a 253 seats layout in 3-classes; 42 Business Class, 24 Premium Economy and 187 Economy.

Altogether the airline has ordered 67 A350-900s. 7 of the aircraft will be delivered with an ultra-long range capability for flights of up to 19 hours, allowing the carrier to resume non-stop flights to Los Angeles and New York.

Source: Airbus

To date, Airbus has recorded a total of 783 firm orders for the A350 XWB from 42 customers worldwide, already making it one of the most successful widebody aircraft ever.

The airline is planning to start commercial services from 8/March on regional routes to Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. The first long-haul service commences on 9/May.

Here are the initial routes:

Singapore – Kuala Lumpur; between 8/March and 8/May

Singapore – Jakarta; from 10/May (twice daily)

Source: Airbus

Singapore – Amsterdam; from 9/May

Singapore – Dusseldorf; from 21/July

Based on the press release “Singapore Airlines becomes new operator of the A350 XWB”. 

278t/300pax variant A350-900 for Philippine Airlines for non-stop Manila-New York route.

Philippine Airlines –which has ordered up to 12 A350-900s- is set to receive a higher-weight version of the A350-900 designed to provide enhanced capability on particular long routes.

The aircraft will have a “slightly increased” maximum take-off weight of 278t.

Airbus´s formal specifications for the A350-900 identify 3 current weight variants for the twinjet type; 268t, 272t and 275t maximum take-off weights.

Source: A380_TLS_A350

The type´s fuel capacity is listed by Airbus as 138.000 litres, common to each weight variant.

Airbus said that the enhancement to 278t for Philippine Airlines will allow it to operate non-stop year-round on the Manila.New York route, with a full passenger load.

Manila, with high average daytime temperatures although its coastal location means it is situated at relatively low altitude, is 13.700km (7.400nm) far from New York (great-circle distance).

Philippine Airlines has stated that the A350-900 will be fitted with 300 seats but has to disclose full details of the passenger cabin configuration.

Source: Airbus

Phillipine Airlines is set to take delivery of its first A350 by the end of 2018.

The weight change is the only amendment to the A350 specification for the carrier. It has not indicated whether any other airlines hve requested the same enhancement.

Based on the article “Higher-weight A350-900 to go the distance for PAL” published in FlightGlobal.

A350s for Iran Air will be “85% financed by Europeans”.

Managing Director of Iran Air Farhad Parvaresh said 80 – 85% of the contracts for the delivery of Airbus A350 XWB to Iran will be financed by the Europeans.

Source: Hamid Forootan

Speaking to reporters at the time of the landing of the first A350 XWB at Mehrabad Airport, Parvaresh noted that based on the contract which was signed, 16 A350-1000s will be delivered as of 2021 according to the schedule.

Source: Hossein Esmaeli

He also said that in case the conditions for deliveries (initially 16 A350-1000 aircraft planned) were not mature enough, they could be substituted with A350-900 or other models.

Source: Hossein Esmaeli

Iran Air and Airbus signed an agreement for 118 aircraft last month.

Source: Hossein Esmaeli

Parvaresh said that the deal is “the start of re-establishing our civil aviation sector into the envy of the region”.

Based on the article “Iran Air chief: 85% of A350 Airbus delivery contracts to be financed by Europeans” published in The Iran Project.

Airbus has started working in the A350-1000 stretch variant with key airlines.

Airbus plans to offer airlines an update by the Farnborough Air Show in July on its potential plans to come out with a bigger variant of the A350 wide-body jetliner so it can better challenge the order success of Boeing’s enlarged 777X.

 

Source: Airbus

The aircraft, a longer version of the A350-1000 --itself already a so-called stretch model-- would be offer more seats in 3-class configuration than Boeing’s 777-9, Airbus’s chief salesman John Leahy said.

 

While A350-900 (325 seats) and A350-1000 (366 seats) is sufficient to combat existing 777 variants and the upgraded 777-8, Airbus doesn’t currently have a twin-aisle model to offer the capacity of Boeing’s 777-9, a maximum of 425 people.

Source: @RayanDkhilFLY

 

Airbus is studying whether there is a big enough market at 30 to 40 seats larger than the current A350-1000, Leahy said.

 

“We’re starting to conclude that perhaps there is such a market and now we’re talking to key airlines about what we might be able to do in that market but no final decision has been made,” Leahy said.

 

“We’ll certainly be able to give you an update at Farnborough.”

 

Source: @azuan1880

Leahy said the new variant would have more seats than the 425 seats maximum capacity of the Boeing 777-9.

 

Leahy said that the Rolls-Royce Plc engines now offered for the A350-1000 would be sufficient to power a larger variant, though would likely need some thrust added.

Source: Airbus

 

“There will not be a brand new engine," Leahy said.

 

"We might increase the thrust of it, but it will be the same engine technology if we were to do the airplane. We study a lot of things of which some end up in the market and some don’t."

 

Based on the article “Airbus Targets Farnborough Show for Update on Bigger A350-1000” published in Bloomberg.