Perfect moment to purchase a A350 XWB. Boeing increases the prices of the 787 and Airbus will increase them next 1st of January

Boeing has updated the prices of their aircraft in August.

model (million $)        Boeing         Airbus.      
767-300ER              185.8 USD
A330-200                                     216.1 USD
787-8                        211.8 USD
A350-800                                     254.3 USD
787-9                        249.5 USD
A350-900                                     287.7 USD
A350-1000                                   332.1 USD

Airbus will update the catalog prices on 1st of January as usual.

Price, while important, is only part of the equation, given that the airlines will get substantial discounts off the list price. Timing may prove to be the deciding factor in many negotiations..

The A350 MSN1 will fly outside of Europe in November.

The A350 XWB first flying prototype MSN1 will fly abroad to Dubai in November and to Bolivia probably in December. But it will fly before to Germany, Great Britain and Spain to show the aircraft to Airbus teams involved in the development for last 5 years.

The Dubai Airshow, which opens on 16/Nov., might be the first occasion for the A350 to land at an airport outside of Europe.

The A350 will be spending more time abroad for hot-and-high tests. These could still happen before the end of the year or they could shift into early 2014, depending on progress achieved in the other areas. These trials are to take place in South America, possibly in La Paz, Bolivia, although Airbus has not confirmed the site. La Paz has been used for such trials in previous campaigns, including for the A340-600.

Based on the article “Testing Times” published in Aviation Week.

A350 XWB driving motivation. Video

Airbus has released this video where different Airbus members talk about their jobs and functions within the A350 XWB program.

Airbus has been working to join and unify the company’s international teams in a “one family” which combine their unique skills and experiences.

click on the image to watch the video

In the video, different engineers, technicians and operators from different Airbus sites explain their experience. The words “proud”, “challenge” and “motivation” are used by many of them.


The aircraft is not only “manufactured” in Toulouse but also in Nantes (F), Getafe (Sp), Stade (G), Broughton (UK), Filton (UK) and Hamburg (G), sites shown in the video between all the factories and sites involved in the program.

 

click on the image to watch the video

A350 MSN1 flying together with A330 and A380 prototypes

Click the image to watch the video

The Airbus widebody family of flight test aircraft, the A380 (F-WWDD), A330 (F-WWCB) and the first prototype MSN1 of the A350 XWB, took off from 32L runway in Toulouse on Thursday flying together for the first time before continuing on separate flight test missions.

Based on the press release “A350 XWB joins the A330 and A380 for an Airbus “Xtra-widebody” family flight”

Lufthansa places an order of 25 A350-900 and an option for additional 30 A350 aircraft, that could be A350-1000. And also commits with the first orders for Boeing 777-9X

Lufthansa has announced its largest ever order for 59 Airbus and Boeing wide-body jets in a deal worth 14 billion euros ($18.7 billion) at list prices that will see it launch a new version of Boeing's 777 jet.

The airline’s supervisory board approved the deal at a meeting on Wednesday, committing to 34 777-9Xs and 25 A350-900s. The first A350s are due for delivery in 2016, and the first 777X is expected to arrive in the Lufthansa fleet in 2020. Lufthansa says it has the flexibility through options and purchase rights to increase the 777X order to 64 units and the A350 commitment to 55 aircraft.

Lufthansa could use options to buy A350-1000s, its CEO said. "You can assume that Lufthansa always tries to ensure flexibility in orders like this," he said when asked whether Lufthansa could use options to buy the largest variant of Airbus's A350 family instead of the A350-900.

 

Lufthansa plans to replace 13 747-400s and 17 A340-300s. Should the airline decide to cut capacity plans further, it would also start retiring its fleet of 24 A340-600s.

The order is for the core airline only, but the group could use options to renew the long-haul fleets at Swiss or Austrian if needed. As part of the deal, Lufthansa has also reached “strategic agreement” with Rolls-Royce to be allowed to perform maintenance on the TrentXWB engines.

Lufthansa plans to operate the A350-900 in two-class and three class configurations.
The airline’s future long-haul fleet will consist of A380s, 747-8s, 777-9Xs, A350-900s and A330-300s, once all of its A340s are phased out.

The carrier decided not to order the 787 for a variety of reasons. “The 787-9 is too small for our requirements and the 787-10 does not have the necessary range for around 40% of the destinations,” says Carsten Spohr, CEO of the passenger airline division.

Based on the article “Lufthansa could use options to buy A350-1000s – CEO” published in Reuters and on the article “Lufthansa Commits To 777-9X and A350-900” published in Aviation Week.

What does the team of 28 test pilots do when the external factors do not allow previously planned programs in the A350 XWB test-flights?

Not all of the current flying is devoted to establishing the right configuration; systems-testing and handling-quality work is also included, particularly when external factors do not allow programs such as climb performance runs. These took place in late August, says Airbus Chief Test Pilot Peter Chandler.

20 of Airbus's 28 test pilots have already flown the A350, and the remaining few will have logged at least one A350 flight by the end of the month, when they return from summer vacations.

Based on the article “Testing Times” published in Aviation Week.

EADS CEO Enders: “If German Government does not complete the payment of A350 star-up funding, it would have consequences.”

Kindermann asked Enders about the A350 XWB payment pending by German Federal Government; “from 1.1 billion euros were been said to, Airbus is still waiting for slightly more than half of the amount which is not paid out. Why not?”

And Tom Enders explains that the answer is linked with the topic they have talked before; “Where are the limits of industrial policy?”

“Look, there is an established system confirmed some time ago that you can make on start-up funding. Start-up financing means that the money will be returned after that even with interest. And all Governments in Europe have earned relatively good actually.”

He continued: “Governments can expect certain rewards for it, is also understandable. But there are limits somewhere. And exactly this is the discussion with the Federal Government - where are the limits.”

Enders said the limits are “relatively clear” to him but he avoid detailing more. “We talked a long time about this topic. For me this discussion is actually out of date.”

When asked about possible impacts for German sites and jobs, EADS CEO Tom Enders is quite direct: “If France, Spain and UK pay their contributions according to agreements -and of course they receive the normal consideration- and German Government doesn't do it, I cannot sit down and say: this has no consequences. That would be bad for the rest of the community.”



Based on the interview to Thomas Enders in dradio by Klemens Kindermann