A350 lithium-ion batteries comparing with 787 system: double number of batteries but with more conservative power output and energy levels.

Airbus and supplier Saft have confirmed several key details of the A350-900’s rechargeable lithium-ion batteries which are soon to become the production standard.

Though incomplete, the details show Airbus and Saft designed the batteries with more conservative power output and energy levels than found on the 787 batteries that caused a 4-month grounding in 2013.

The grounding was lifted in May 2013 only after Boeing revised the installation design, although the architecture of the GS Yuasa-designed system remained the same.

Source: FlightGlobal 

Though much heavier than the Boeing design, the Airbus approach is more cautious. Instead of the 787’s 2 batteries, Airbus will install 4 lithium-ion batteries in each A350-900. Each of the Saft batteries consists of 14 cells storing a combined 45Ah of energy and running at 3.6V. Yuasa batteries onboard the 787 consists of 8 cells storing a combined 72Ah of energy and running at 3.7V.

 

One of the 4 batteries is dedicated to starting the APU, and the 3 others will provide power to other components in the A350 electrical system, Airbus said.

Details of the A350’s lithium-ion batteries have been a closely held secret since Saft was identified as the supplier 6 years ago.

As the 787 entered the battery-induced grounding, Airbus said the A350 would first be certificated with more traditional nickel-cadmium batteries that would be replaced by the lithium-ion batteries by early next year, around MSN21 for Qatar Airways.

Unlike GS Yuasa, which has released a specification sheet on the 787 batteries (it uses a lithium cobalt oxide chemistry – which is considered the most reactive and inherently volatile electrolytes in lithium ion-based systems), Saft had never revealed the technical characteristics of the A350-900 battery; the voltage of the A350 battery appears to rule out lithium iron phosphate, which is the least volatile lithium-based chemistry. But Airbus could still be using other chemistries considered safer than lithium cobalt oxide, such as lithium nickel manganese oxide.

The A350 installation includes an “overboard venting system”. That system is now being reviewed by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration.

“We are progressing well with EASA and FAA – also considering recommendations from the US National Transportation Safety Board – to certify the li-ion main batteries in order to offer them to our customers at a later stage,” Airbus said.

Based on the article “Airbus cautious on lithium battery design for A350” published in Flight Global.

A350 landing gear supplier Messier-Bugatti-Dowty unveils a Flow Line in it´s UK plant.

UK Business secretary Vince Cable announced almost £6 million of funding for Staverton-based aerospace business Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, which employs an estimated 1,000 staff.

He unveiled a new production line at the facility, called Flow Line, aimed at increasing production rates for landing gears for Airbus A350 (and also for Boeing 787).

Left to right: Chris Wilson, managing director of MBD, Business Secretary Vince Cable and Vincent Mascre, MBD CEO

“As a Government we believe in aerospace,” said Dr Cable. “We have invested millions in research projects, half of which is funded by business and half by Government and that is commitment and support which will continue past the next election and help secure the continued future development of the sector.”

“Great Britain has a very significant advanced manufacturing sector,” said Dr Cable. “There are some areas where we are world leaders and Messier-Bugatti-Dowty is one of them. “In aerospace we are second only to the United States and we have some fantastic companies here in the UK but the world is a competitive place. We have to continue to develop to remain part of it. Through the “Aerospace Growth Partnership” we have put in the best part of a billion pounds for research stretching over the next seven to 10 years. That gives businesses like Messier-Bugatti-Dowty some long-term certainly that they can invest in projects like Flow Line. It is giving them confidence that the Government has some skin in the game.”

Based on the article “Business Secretary Vince Cable announces £6m funding for Gloucestershire-based Messier-Bugatti-Dowty” published in Gloucestershire Echo

Hexcel will expand carbon fiber capacity for A350 ramp-up with a new plant in France.

Hexcel Corp. announced on September that it will expand its carbon fiber production capacity through the addition of new precursor and carbon fiber lines in Roussillon, France. The $250 million investment will also include associated quality-control laboratories and offices.

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The new French plant will occupy a 150.000 m2 site at the Osiris Chemicals Industry Platform in Roussillon, which is close to Hexcel’s weaving and prepreg manufacturing facilities near Lyon. Carbon fiber from the new plant will be supplied to Hexcel customers, including Airbus and other suppliers for the A350 XWB. Construction of the new plant will begin by mid-2015 and it is expected to employ 120 people when fully operational in early 2018.

Hexcel said the new facility is part of the company’s ongoing worldwide investment to create a diversified and robust global supply chain to support aerospace customers’ growing demand for carbon fiber composites. In recent years, Hexcel has increased its precursor and carbon fiber capacities through targeted expansions at several existing facilities. Notably, Hexcel is investing in ongoing precursor and carbon fiber expansions in the U.S. and is currently installing its resin mixing and filming technology – first developed in Europe – in the U.S. as well. The new facility in France is the next step in support of European customers.

Based on the article “Toray, Hexcel announce European carbon fiber production expansions” published in Composites World

Chinese airlines want A350s now. But they have not ordered it for 4 years.

Chinese demand is a factor behind Airbus’s keenness to build the A350 faster than the rate of 10 a month planned for 2018.

“We don’t have many early delivery slots to offer customers in China,” and none before 2020, said Airbus China President Eric Chen, adding that more A350s would have been sold to Chinese airlines if more slots had been available.

This year A350 production is moving from 2 to 3/month. By the end of 2015 it should reach 5/month, with the current full-rate target of 10/month to be achieved in 2018.  “We are looking at ways to accelerate production, but there are no miraculous solutions,” says Chen.

“Discussions are ongoing with industrial partners. We need to find a solution…but we know we have a lot of industrial challenges and ramping up is not so easy.”  Airbus has previously said it was looking at speeding up production to 12/month after 2018 and some installations have been designed to support a maximum rate of 13/month.

Scarcity of A350 production slots is a particular problem for Airbus in China because the airlines there mostly order aircraft according to traditional communist 5-year planning periods. So they are currently filling requirements for 2016-20.

The state planning process has tended to push orders for each 5-year plan to the last year or so before the planning period begins. As a result, Chinese carriers have been challenged in getting timely deliveries of aircraft that have few or no early slots, notably new models such as the A350. 

“But we don’t have slots before 2020 to offer,” said Chen. “That’s the issue. It’s got nothing to do with preference. We have to find an effective solution to this problem.”

The Chinese government signed for 10 A350-900s on behalf of Air China in 2010. This order for 10 was an exception to the process driven by Airbus’s allocation of A350 development and production work to China. But in last 4 years none Chinese airlines -China Southern, China Eastern and Hainan Airlines- have ordered any A350 XWB.

Based on the article “Faster A350 Rate Would Feed Chinese Demand” published in Aviation Week.

A350-900 Type Certification by FAA

Airbus has announced that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given safety approval to the A350-900.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Peggy Gilligan and Airbus Group Chairman Allan McArtor. Source: Airbus

Airbus already won European safety approval on 30/September clearing the main regulatory hurdle before the jet can fly passengers, but approval from the U.S. regulator was seen as another critical milestone.

Based on the article "Airbus says wins FAA safety approval for new A350 jetliner" published in Reuters.

Virgin Atlantic will replace 747s in 9 months. Low possibilities for the A350.

Virgin Atlantic Airways Chief Executive Craig Kreeger said the carrier will decide in 5 to 9 months how to replace Boeing 747 jets used on leisure routes amid one of the biggest revamps of the British carrier's fleet and network.

Based on https://www.flickr.com/photos/47086222@N03/15532275158/lightbox/

The likely replacement candidates are Boeing´s 787s, 777s as well as Airbus' A350 wide-bodies, he said.

Virgin Atlantic, founded by billionaire Sir Richard Branson, flies seven 747s on leisure routes from London Gatwick. Those planes come to the end of their lease period starting in 2019.

The size of the fleet order, which would include options for growth, hasn't been fixed, Mr. Kreeger said.

Virgin Atlantic this year started flying Boeing's 787-9 Dreamliner to phase out less fuel efficient Airbus A340 jets and 747 jumbos. The carrier has 16 orders for 787-9 and Delta Airlines –who took a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic- has 18 orders for 787-8.

Neither Virgin Atlantic nor Delta Airlines has any A350 in their orderbooks. Additionally Virgin Atlantic has announced that “it is unlikely to take the order for 6 A380s that placed some years ago”.

Based on the article “Virgin Atlantic CEO Sees 747 Replacement Choice in 5-9 Months” published inDow Jones Business News

Airbus invites Aer Lingus “to have one more look at the A330neo” before signing the A350 order.

Aer Lingus is to continue studying the new Airbus A330neo before finalising delivery plans for the 9 A350s that it has long been committed to taking from Airbus.

The Irish airline initially ordered 6 A350-900s, as well as 6 A330-300s, in 2007. It later deferred and ultimately switched 3 of the A330s to A350s, leaving it with 9 A350s initially due for delivery between 2015 and 2018.

Based on https://www.flickr.com/photos/47086222@N03/14985552834/lightbox/

In February, it said this schedule could not be achieved and that it had revised delivery dates for the on-order A350s in addition to converting some to the regional version of the -900 model. These were likely to be delivered between 2018 and 2020, but further details awaited final agreements with Airbus.

This process was "substantially concluded" by the end of July, but the carrier said it would study the A330neo – which Airbus launched during that month's Farnborough air show – for its potential suitability given future long-haul fleet requirements. "This process is continuing," said Aer Lingus in a statement on its third-quarter results.

"We have been invited to have one more look at the A330neo," adds Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller. "We have been committed to the A350 for a long time, and we have almost completed the package on the A350, but we are taking a couple of weeks more to see what Airbus has to offer with the Neo. It might be a solution for us, but it's too early to come to conclusions.

"With our third Dublin-New York service, I believe we are about to mature in frequencies to certain destinations to the United States. So the remaining opportunity to grow would be the shell-size of the aircraft, and so far the A350 is a very tempting and very good proposition – that's the reason we bought it in the first place. That is basically what our fleet team is currently calculating in a couple of business plan alternatives."

Source: Airbus

For long-haul flights, Aer Lingus currently operates 4 A330-300s (322-seats), 3 A330-200s (262-seats) and 3 Boeing 757s (177-seats). It will add a further A330-300 next summer.

The A350-900 has a baseline capacity of 315 seats in a two-class configuration. The A330-800neo will seat 252 and the A330-900neo up to 310.

Based on the article “Aer Lingus still mulling A330neo before finalising A350 plan” published in Flightglobal.