ETOPS target of 420 minutes for A350.

While the A350 will receive extended operations clearance of 180 minutes upon certification, the ultimate aim for Airbus is that the aircraft will be able to fly virtually unrestricted anywhere around the world.

A350 project test pilot Frank Chapman said the flight plans for Johannesburg-Sydney and Auckland-Santiago de Chile –during the route proving 3^rd flight- were not restricted by extended operations regulations given they were test flights with only crew and technical staff on board.

But Chapman explained Airbus was working on eventually securing 420-minute ETOPS restrictions for operators of the aircraft. This would mean, apart from a few routes over the north and south poles, the A350 would have no restrictions on where it could fly, Chapman said.

A 420-minute ETOPS would mean the aircraft would be approved to fly for 7 hours on one engine in the event of an engine failure.

Extended operations, or ETOPS, rules restrict how far an aircraft can fly from the nearest airport.

Over the next 2 weeks the A350 will perform six or seven more long-range flights over water, Alonso said, initiating power and systems failures to show it can fly for seven hours on one engine. 

Recently, Boeing said its 787 Dreamliners received ETOPS clearance for 330-minutes, which opened up the possibility of the twinsets being used for two of Qantas’s longest overwater routes currently flown with the four-engine 747-400 – Sydney to Johannesburg and Sydney to Santiago.

Based on the article “Airbus seeking 420-minute ETOPS certification for A350” published in Australian Aviation.

A350 route-proving campaign successfully completed prior to the Type Certification. Videos.

Airbus has been working hard to complete A350 flight testing in preparation for formal European Aviation Safety Agency airworthiness approval in coming weeks.

By 13/August, the five A350 test aircraft had logged more than 2.500 hours during about 610 flights.

Airbus has completed the route-proving campaign with A350-900 MSN5 (F-WWYB), which is one of two A350 flight-test aircraft equipped with an airline cabin interior and sporting only a “light” flight-test equipment fit.

According to flight and integration tests Senior Vice President Fernando Alonso, route proving has proved “quite a logistics exercise” that has required several flight crews positioned around the world. The aircraft has undertaken around 35 flights totaling some 200 hours’ flying representative of airline operations, including high-airfield performance, auto-landing trials, and airport turnaround and handling services.

The A350’s World Tour began on 24/July and the MSN5 has visited Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Qatar, Russia, Singapore and South Africa.

The aircraft has been operated by Airbus flight crews and during this route proving exercise a representative airline schedule operation has been demonstrated such as normal airline turnarounds using airport handling services.

"We didn't discover anything we didn't know about," said Fernando Alonso, SVP for flight testing at Airbus. "The airplane is perfectly fit to go into service tomorrow."

None of the route-proving flights were delayed, Mr. Alonso said, and only one communications device had to be replaced. Nuisance messages that cropped up are due to be addressed before Qatar Airways starts flying the plane.

"Of course I remain prudent," Mr. Alonso said. "No matter how much testing has been done, the airplane will be exposed to other things by airlines."

The program has comprised 4 trips, each of which has begun in Toulouse:

Trip 1: Toulouse-Iqaluit-Frankfurt-Toulouse.

The first phase of A350 XWB route-proving flights took the MSN5 from Toulouse over the North Pole to Iqaluit Airport in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.  On its return flight, the A350-900 made a stopover in Frankfurt for visits by personnel from Lufthansa.

Click the picture to watch the video.

Trip 2: Toulouse-Hong-Kong-Singapore-Hong-Kong-Toulouse.

MSN5 travelled to Asia on the 2nd trip of its global route-proving tour to demonstrate the aircraft’s readiness for airline operations. In this phase, the jetliner flew from Toulouse to Hong Kong, and then operated multiple flights between Hong Kong and Singapore before returning to Toulouse. The Asian trip allowed Airbus to evaluate the A350 XWB’s performance in hot and humid conditions, as well as showcase the aircraft for Cathay Pacific Airways.

Click the picture to watch the video.

Trip 3: Toulouse-Johannesburg-Sydney-Auckland-Santiago de Chile-Sao Paulo-Toulouse.

The MSN5 on the 3rd trip received warm welcome in Johannesburg -where the aircraft carried out high airfield auto-landing trials-; Sydney, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Santiago, Chile then flew to Sao Paulo, Brazil before returning to Toulouse, France.

 Click the picture to watch the video.

Trip 4: Toulouse-Doha-Perth-Doha-Moscow-Helsinki-Toulouse.

The MSN5 on the 4th trip flew from Toulouse to Doha and after a quick visit to Perth, Australia, it returned to Doha. The plane flew to Moscow –through Iran- where many spotters were waiting since hours and finally it  received a warm welcome in Helsinki, Finland.

Click the picture to watch the video.

Another interesting  video.

With flight testing mostly complete, Airbus still has to complete paperwork to submit to the Cologne, Germany-based European Aviation Safety Agency before the regulator signs off on the jet. EASA, whose technical experts have flown the plane, are expected to give their stamp of approval next month.

Based on the article “A350 Testing Approaches Conclusion With Route Proving” published in AINonline, based on the article “Airbus A350 Set to Complete Final Tests, Gear Up for First Deliveries” published in The Wall Street Journal and based on different press released by Airbus.

Lufthansa could order more A350s if it works its planned low-cost long-haul operations.

German carrier Lufthansa is likely to expand its planned low-cost long-haul operations if their launch goes well, its Chief Executive Carsten Spohr told The Financial Times.

Lufthansa last month announced a new strategy that includes expanding low-cost services in Europe and on intercontinental flights as it battles competition from Middle Eastern and budget airlines.

Photo by @kayke tavares

It has said it would build up the inter-continental budget service to 7 Boeing 767s or Airbus A330s readily available on the market.

Photo by @Jaws300

"If it works we'll be rolling it over into A350s or 787s and we probably won't stop at 7 planes," the paper quoted Carsten Spohr as saying in an interview published last week.

Photo by @Jaws300

Lufthansa currently has 25 A350-900s and no 787s on order.

Photo by @Jaws300

It has not yet decided whether to team up with a partner for the low-cost business or go it alone and has been in talks with Turkish Airlines on the matter.

"I want to be in the air by next fall," Spohr told the FT.

Based on the article “Lufthansa likely to expand long-haul low-cost ops - CEO in FT” published in Reuters.

GKN´s A350 ramp-up on track; more rear-wing-spars shipped in H1/2014 than in 2013.

GKN, a supplier of aircraft structures to Airbus and Boeing, said it has doubled production rates for the A350 model as it nears service entry.

GKN makes 27-meter rear wing spars that hold key parts such as the A350’s main landing gear. Shipments of the high-value composite structures are surging with the jet nearing its commercial debut with Qatar Airways in late 2014.

“We’ve shipped more in the first half of this year than we shipped in the whole of last year,” said Nigel Stein GKN’s CEO. “It will step up further in the second half.”

GKN bolstered its status as a primary contractor to Airbus with the 2008 purchase of the planemaker’s Filton wing-parts plant in the U.K., doubling the airliner-structures order book to $10 billion and guaranteeing work through the lifetime of models including the A350. The company’s aerospace unit boosted its profit margin to 11% in the first half as gains in commercial revenue offset military declines, reported GKN.

Based on the article “GKN Doubles Airbus A350 Wing-Spar Output on Service Entry” published in Bloomberg.

A350-900 will join Iberia’s long-haul fleet

International Airlines Group (IAG) has converted 8 A350-900 options into firm orders for Iberia. The airline becomes a new customer for the A350XWB Family.

IAG secured commercial terms for the A350 aircraft as part of the Group long-haul order announced in April 2013 when 18 A350-900s were ordered for British Airways. One year ago, IAG disclosed that it had also reached agreement with Airbus and they were placed options for a total of 32 Airbus A350s to renew the Iberia long-haul fleet, “subject to its Spanish subsidiary's satisfactory restructuring”.

“We are very proud that IAG has chosen the A350-900 aircraft for Iberia. We welcome a new operator of the most efficient mid-size long-haul aircraft in the market,” said John Leahy, Airbus COO, Customers.

Based on the press release “IAG firms up for 8 Airbus A350-900”

Airline 1 new concept to ensure mature EIS of the A350.

One important feature in the maturity campaign has been what Airbus calls Airline 1. This entails mirroring airline operations by applying key performance indicators, such as reliability or interruptions. A dedicated hangar is used for daily maintenance. 

http://www.hkitalk.net/HKiTalk2/thread-861029-1-1.html

“The concept is simple: to operate and test the aircraft as much as possible in an operational environment, use the maintenance and support systems that our customers would have, capture their findings as soon as possible, and fix small issues quickly,” explained Didier Evrard, Head of the A350 XWB Programme. “The Airline 1 concept is a means to accelerate the aircraft maturity at the end of development.”

Photo by Lufthansa.

Airline 1 comprises a dedicated staff that operates a hangar and maintenance control centre in coordination with Airbus’ flight-test team. This allows for daily maintenance, support and repair operations for the five-aircraft A350 XWB test fleet in an environment similar to what the jetliner will experience in commercial service.  

www.airbus.com

Taking lessons from previous aircraft service introductions across the industry, Airline 1 concept was developed specifically to ensure a smooth service entry for the A350.

Photo by @ ATC Blog

Based on the article “Shifting Gears” published in Aviation Week  

Aer Lingus to decide between already-ordered A350 or the A330neo.

Aer Lingus has announced that it will study the A330neo's "capabilities and its potential suitability" for its future long-haul operations.

http://www.airbus.com/galleries/photo-gallery/

Aer Lingus stated: "Discussions with Airbus regarding Aer Lingus’ A350-XWB long haul fleet order have substantially concluded with just some final matters relating to manufacturer communicated delivery delays to be agreed. 

Aer Lingus notes Airbus’ recently announced intention to produce the A330neo long haul aircraft. Aer Lingus will study this aircraft’s capabilities and its potential suitability for the Group’s long haul requirements and future plans."

http://www.airbus.com/galleries/photo-gallery/

Aer Lingus already operates the current A330 and it has 9 A350-900 on order, scheduled for delivery between 2018 and 2020.

The A330neo, with new engines to help deliver 14% greater efficiency, “looks like a fantastic aircraft for our route profile,” airline Chief Executive Christoph Muller said. 

http://www.airbus.com/galleries/photo-gallery/

The A350 offers more range than Aer Lingus needs for its international flights, so the A330neo is a better match.

All photos © Airbus

Based on the article “Aer Lingus 'will study' A330neo” published in CAPA.