Rolls-Royce powered first A350, financed by General Electric.

GE's aircraft leasing arm GECAS -the world's largest lessor- agreed to buy the A350 from Qatar Airways immediately on delivery and rent it back, a routine type of financing called sale-and-leaseback.

The rare decision to invest in rival technology highlights the complexities of keeping ahead in a highly concentrated aviation industry, with GECAS seen as keen to diversify its portfolio even though its parent GE is perceived in the industry as more and more aligned with Airbus rival Boeing.

It is not the first aircraft equipped with rival engines to end up on GECAS's books but such deals are usually kept low key and seldom if ever happen on a high-profile debut of a new jet.

"We have had much interest in taking Qatar Airways' airplanes and leasing them back to us. The deal with GECAS was the best for the airline and so we concluded with them," Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said after the first revenue flight.

Industry sources say there could be several reasons for GE getting involved in the A350. Qatar has a large fleet of GE-powered Boeing 777s and the relationship is crucial, both in engines and financing.

Yet the move highlights a delicate balancing act as GECAS seeks to diversify assets to reduce risk, even as its parent GE forges ever closer ties with Boeing.

Based on the article "GE finances first A350 powered by rival Rolls-Royce" published in Reuters.

Ethiopian Airlines considering 777x and A350-1000 for an up to 20 aircraft order.

Ethiopian Airlines is evaluating the Airbus A350-1000 and the Boeing 777X as it considers further widebody order plans, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam has confirmed to ATW.

Source: Felix Gottwald

“We are evaluating both the Airbus A350-1000 and the Boeing 777X. We have not yet determined the numbers, but we may need up to 20 airplanes,” said Gebremariam.

Source: Airbus

The evaluation started last month and will be finalized after 3 months, several Ethiopian media outlets are reporting.

Source: Lee Halford

In the meantime, the Star Alliance carrier is preparing for A350-900 operations as the entry into service is scheduled for 2016.

Source: Jacob Pfleger

Ethiopian Airlines has 11 Boeing 787s in service and an orderbook of 4 Boeing 777, 2 additional 787 and 12 A350-900.

Based on the article “CEO: Ethiopian Airlines considers Airbus A350-1000, Boeing 777X” published in ATW

Static, fatigue and damage tolerance tests of the A350 winglet.

Tests for the certification of the winglets and wingtips manufactured by FACC have been done at the Composites Lab & Test Center (CoLT), a subsidiary on the company’s premises in St. Martin (Austria).

The entire test specimen (8x2x3m) was analyzed statically and dynamically for long-term and peak loading. The tests also included damage tolerance testing.

Source: Manuel Belleli

Along with standard measurement techniques, for the first time, the FACC subsidiary fully integrated non-contact sensors from GOM in the test setup.

Unlike conventional methods such as strain-gauges the two “pontos” systems recorded 3D displacements and deformations of the winglet.

Optical measuring systems also accelerated the test setup. For instance, 200 strain-gauge positions were marked and applied to the component within one working day.

Source: Clement Alloing

Loads were achieved with 15 servo hydraulic push and pull cylinders, with the force transmitted by 5 yokes. The 2 non-contact sensors measured dynamic deformations at around 220 points, with each point being analyzed 3D.

In addition, more than 2000 synchronized channels measured static strain, deformation, force, pressure and temperature.

During structure testing, the component was loaded statically across several stages to simulate the loads occurring during flight. In this way, the test engineers examined 3 scenarios: maximum torsion and maximum load upward and downward.

During fatigue testing, the engineers ran through real flight profiles to analyze the behavior of the component within one life cycle. During static and fatigue testing, load factors were applied to account for variations in the material properties and possible weight increases in the component.

Source: Teerawut W.

For the damage tolerance tests, the winglet was damaged in advance at certain points. This way, the test engineers simulated manufacturing errors, as well as damage caused by hail impact and bird strikes in order to precisely analyze the effects on material and component behavior under load. 

Based on the article “Non-Contact Measuring Systems Support Certification of Airbus A350” published by  Gom mbH

Air to air video: A350 Qatar Airways 1st aircraft.

This spectacular air to air video available in youtube was filmed on the first week of December/2014 prior to the first delivery to Qatar Airways on 22/Dec/2014. Enjoy!

Click on the picture to watch the video.

Picture Source: Airbus

Spirit AeroSystems maintains the A350 delivery rate

Spirit AeroSystems reported Q4/2014 and full-year 2014 financial results driven by strong mature program operating performance. Spirit's Q4/2014 revenues were $1.6 billion, up from $1.5 billion for the same period of 2013.

Source: Felix Gottwald

"This was a record year for sales and deliveries; 2014 was a year of transition for Spirit. We addressed performance challenges in both development and production, we improved productivity and quality, and we mitigated risk as exemplified by the sale of the Gulfstream wing programs," said President and CEO Larry Lawson. 

"Our objectives for 2015 are well defined. We will continue to focus on increasing productivity, making thoughtful investments in preparation for rate increases, continuing progress on A350, increasing our emphasis on long-term growth, and addressing how we deploy capital," Lawson concluded.

Lawson detailed that progress on A350 fuselage section in Q4 equaled 18% cost reduction over Q3. And deliveries were the same than in Q2.

"We've made good progress. We've got a solid foundation for our company moving forward. We believe we are on the right programs. We are going deeper into our operations," Lawson said.

In 2014 Spirit delivered the double number of A350 shipsets than in 2013.

Source: Felix Gottwald

A350 Deliveries from Spirit AeroSystems.

2012       Q1:#1.   Q2:#0.    Q3:#1.     Q4:#1.     Subtotal: #3
2013       Q1:#2.   Q2:#1.    Q3:#1.     Q4:#4.     Subtotal: #8
2014       Q1:#2.   Q2:#5.    Q3:#4.     Q4:#5.     Subtotal: #16

A350-1000 Rear Fuselage shell manufacturing started

Premium Aerotec has officially started the manufacturing of the rear-fuselage side shells for the A350-1000 version at the Augsburg site. In October/2014 Premium Aerotec site of Nordenham had already started the production of its workpackage on the A350-1000.

The ceremony was held last Friday 30/January with the attendance of more than 200 employees.

The head of the A350 program at Premium Aerotec Joachim Nägele and the COO Andreas Fehring, thanked the team: "It is great to work with a highly motivated team at the most modern aircraft in the world. The excellent work that provide our employees makes me confident for the further ramp-up."

Premium Aerotec manufactures at Augsburg site the side shells of the rear fuselage (section 16/18), the floor structure and the aft pressure bulkhead. In Nordenham site, the full front fuselage section 13/14 is manufactured. The front and the rear fuselage section of the A350-1000 are each over 3 metres longer than the 900.

The A350-1000 introduces important innovations: for the highly complex structure of door frames, Premium Aerotec has developed an own CFRP solution together with Airbus for the first time. It contributes to significant weight & cost savings. In addition, the production time has been challenged with modifications in the production process.

Based on the press release “Premium AEROTEC beginnt mit der Fertigung der A350-1000”

2nd A350 will be delivered to Qatar in February

Qatar Airways has confirmed that the 2nd A350 delivery is scheduled for February, 2 months later than the first aircraft. 

Source: A380_TLS_A350

This second aircraft MSN7 will be the unique one to be delivered in Q1/2015.

Source: Oliver Louis

This aircraft will join the MSN6 in the Doha-Frankfurt route.

Source: A380_TLS_A

Next 3 aircraft (MSN9, MSN10, MSN8) will be delivered in Q2/2015 to Qatar. 

Source: Oliver Louis

For Q3/2015 there are 5 aircraft planned (3 for Qatar and 2 for Vietnam Airlines) and finally for Q4/2015 there will be 7 deliveries (2 for Vietnam, 4 for Finnair and 1 for Qatar).

Source: A380_TLS_A

A350-900 Delivery Plan. Q1/2015: #1.    Q2/2015: #3.     Q3/2015: #5.     Q4/2015: #7

Source: Jujug Spotting