German Minister of labour visits A350 production site at Stade

German Minister Olaf Lies said that as an engineer, he was impressed by the complexity of the products manufactured in Stade Airbus site and by the possibilities of use of composite materials.

The Minister of economics, labour and transport undertook a visit to the facility in late-July accompanied by other local and regional politicians as well as Airbus top employees.

The Stade plant -with approximately 2.000 employees- the A350 XWB fuselage shells and wing upper covers are manufactured and the vertical stabilizer is assembled.

The Minister said that "optimized work processes assure the production in Germany”

Based on the article “Olaf Lies bei Airbus in Stade: Als Ingenieur beeindruckt von der Komplexität der Produkte” published in kreiszeitung-wochenblatt.de

Garuda Indonesia´s Letter of Intent for 30 A350s could be cancelled.

Garuda Indonesia CEO Arif Wibowo signed last June a Letter of Intent with Airbus for 30 A350 XWB aircraft.

But some discussions within Indonesian Government suggest that the future order could be cancelled.

Source: Airbus

The new Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli, on his 1^st day in the charge, has asked the national carrier Garuda to cancel the letter of intent signed in June at Le Bourget Airshow for 30 A350 XWBs.

Source: Airbus

The strategic international expansion target of the airline to provide direct flights between Europe and Jakarta or Bali has been questioned fearing that the company would run into financial difficulty again.

Dr. Rizal Ramli would prefer to see Garuda to concentrate on serving domestic routes with single aisle aircraft.

Source: Airbus

 “I don't want to bankrupt Garuda-Indonesia because an agreement to buy 30 A350 planes with a loan of 44.5 billion US dollars from the China Aviation Bank.”

Meantime, State-Owned Entreprises Minister Rini Soemarno, who oversees the management of Garuda, told Rizal to back off as the company was not under his authority.

“State-owned enterprises are clearly under the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, not under the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister. So no one can intervene in Garuda except for the former,” Rini said.

She defended Garuda’s fleet expansion plan as the company was developing its business.

Based on the article “Day one: New minister Rizal Ramli criticized by fellow minister” published in The Jakarta Post.

Spirit Aerosystems ramps up the A350 deliveries

"In June, we celebrated our 10th anniversary, and I would like to congratulate Spirit's employees around the globe on what they have accomplished," said President and Chief Executive Officer Larry Lawson. 

Source: Airbus

"Preparing for aircraft rate increases is a key focus for us this year.”

“Near term, we are capitalizing to increase the production rate of the 787 to 12 shipsets per month and the 737 to 47 shipsets per month, as well as the higher production rates on the A320 and A350 programs," Lawson added.

"The results of our efforts to reduce our cost and drive increased productivity are manifest in the quarter and we will continue to drive the enterprise with a focus on operational efficiency across all aspects of the business," Lawson concluded.

Spirit AeroSystems reported 2nd quarter financial results driven by positive operating performance of mature programs.

Spirit's 2Q/2015 revenues were $1.7 billion, down 6% compared to the same period of 2014 primarily due to the Gulfstream wing divestiture and lower revenues recognized on the 787 program.

Source: Airbus

Sanjay Kapoor, Spirit’s chief financial officer, said Spirit delivered 9 A350XWB shipsets (including the center section of the airplane’s fuselage as well as parts of its wings) in the 2nd quarter 2015. That compares with 5 A350 shipsets it delivered in the 2nd quarter of 2014.

Based on the press release “Spirit AeroSystems releases 2Q earnings and announces share repurchase program”

The A350´s centre of reference has moved forward the A350-1000.

Airbus is sounding out operators to determine whether there is a realistic demand of an aircraft larger than the A350-1000.

While the discussions and its own internal studies are only preliminary, they give the clearest indication so far that the airframer is exploring the potential of further development of the family.

The A350-1000 has been redesigned to provide greater capability while the A350-800 has effectively been abandoned in favour of re-engining the A330.

CEO for Customers John Leahy, speaking during Paris Airshow, said that the -900 was no longer the A350´s centre of reference, but that this middle point has “moved toward the -1000”.

Rather than a double-stretch strategy –about which he has expressed skepticism- Leahy said further development of the -1000 might be closer to “one and a half”.

The degree of flexibility available to Airbus to enhance the -1000´s design without substantial alterations will form part of the studies.

But Leahy stressed that the priority is to explore whether there is any genuine demand for an upgrade. Airbus has already projects in progress aimed at finding ways to raise capacity I the A359 family by up to 20 seats within next 5 years.

Based on the article “Airbus toys with growing A350 family” published in Flight International.

Iberia converts 8 options of A350-900 to firm orders.

International Airlines Group (IAG) has signed a firm order for 8 A350-900s within a complete order for 31 Airbus aircraft (which includes 3 A330-200s and 20 A320neos).

The A350s are slated for Iberia’s fleet modernization and to open new long-haul routes.

With this latest order for 31 aircraft IAG and its airlines have ordered a total of nearly 450 aircraft from Airbus.

IAG’s airlines British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, between them operate nearly every aircraft in Airbus’ product range from the smallest single aisle A318 to the world’s largest wide-body A380.

“IAG’s additional order for A350s and A330s is very significant for us and highlights the appeal of our leading wide-body family.

It always fills us with great pride when one of our biggest and most influential customers recognizes the superior operating economics and passenger experience of our aircraft”, said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer – Customers.

Based on the press release “IAG orders 31 widebody & single aisle aircraft”

Main differences between A350-900 and A350-1000 engines.

Although Tim Boddy, head of marketing for the program, said “the Trent XWB-84 was always designed with growth potential”, you would have to be a bit of an expert to spot the differences between the XWB-84 and the final production version of its big sister XWB-97.

One of the main tweaks is to the design of the fan system, which includes an inflected annulus to improve flow.

“For the -97 we need to run the fan faster, so we’ve added material to the fan blade, the disc and the fan case to cope with that higher stress,” he said.

A shroudless blade system has also been introduced for the 1st time on a Trent.

However, the nacelle is identical and most of the changes are deep within the engine.

To achieve higher flow, and thrust, engineers have had to design a way to drive the core faster, and that has involved an increase in size of around 5%.

“It’s a subtle change but it’s important to manage down design temperatures,” said Boddy.

“When you are driving up the engine temperature, the trick is to run it hot, reliably and with the minimum amount of cooling air.

By adding high temperature technology, and adding size to the core, these two things together give you a very robust machine.”

All pictures. Source: Manuel Belleli

Based on the article “Rolls-Royce readies for Trent XWB-97 flight test on A380” published in Flight International.

Delighted with the performance of the engine on the first A350-900.

“One of our key challenges this year is the customer build-up on the -84,” Tim Boddy, head of marketing for the program, said.

Source: Airbus

Boddy said he and his colleagues are “delighted” with the performance so far of the engine on the first A350-900s.

There are now 5 of the twinjets in service with the 2 operators –Latam and Finnair will join their ranks shortly– and the XWB-84 is experiencing “very intense operations for a new engine”, he said.

“Vietnam are doing 2-hour legs with up to 6 flights a day, while Qatar does a lot of medium-haul flights and operates in a challenging environment, with lots of flying through sand.”

Based on the article “Rolls-Royce readies for Trent XWB-97 flight test on A380” published in Flight International.