EADS board set to give go-ahead for 7E7 rival this week
Airbus is set to announce the commercial launch of its A350 widebody twinjet family as early as this week after introducing last-minute performance enhancements aimed at boosting the design's competitiveness against the Boeing 7E7.
The European manufacturer was last week expecting the board of majority shareholder EADS to grant it authority to offer the aircraft to airlines at its meeting scheduled for 29 November, say industry sources.
Speaking to FlightInternational at last week's Association of Asia Pacific Airlines presidents meeting in Taipei, Airbus chief commercial officer John Leahy confirmed that the projected range of the baseline 250-seat A350-800 has been extended to 15,700km (8,500nm), from 14,300km (Flight International, 19-25 October). This would provide 550-900km more range than that of the 220-seat 7E7-8, he claims.
He says the A350-800 and 295-seat -900, equivalent in size to the A330-200 and -300, respectively, would enter service in 2009 or 2010, around six months apart, adding that the -800 will "not necessarily" be first. The -900 would be pitched against the 257-seat 7E7-9 and have the same range as the A340-300 long-range quad, Leahy says.
"We are using a lot of composite work on the wing," says Leahy. "The gross weight of the aircraft will be increased and it will have a 242t maximum take-off weight." The A330, upon which the A350 will be based, has an MTOWof 233t.
"General Electric has signed up with us already and we are finalising agreement now with Rolls-Royce. We definitely want two [suppliers of] engines," Leahy adds.
Airbus has been forced to enhance the A350's performance after receiving a lukewarm response from airlines to its initial proposals. The range increase has been achieved through structural changes including wing modifications and greater use of advanced materials.
GE and R-R are tackling challenges to adapt the 7E7 powerplants, the GEnx and Trent 1000 respectively, to the A350. These include meeting requirements for engine-out take-off climb and single-engine sustained altitude of 15,000-20,000ft (4,570-6,100m). Although aimed at similar thrust bands in the 55,000-70,000lb (245-300kN) range, the Airbus requirement puts this at the top end of the Trent 1000 level and is expected to present R-R with a bigger challenge than that facing GE. The single-engine power requirement may raise the optimum top-line thrust need beyond 70,000lb to around 75,000lb, say industry sources.
NICHOLAS IONIDES / TAIPEI
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY GUY NORRIS IN LOS ANGELES
Source: Flight International
