This year's Farnborough air show could be a vintage one for the new generation of airliners. With almost all the new and re-engined single-aisles potentially on display, show attendees will get a unique opportunity to see – and hear – all the rivals up close.
As flight trials of Boeing’s CFM International Leap-1B-powered 737 Max gathers momentum in Seattle, Boeing is evaluating whether it could spare a test aircraft for the air show. Four aircraft are now in flight-test and sources indicate that the aim is for a 737 Max 8 to attend Farnborough.
Officially, Boeing is yet to confirm which aircraft types it will bring to the show, but may be able to give some guidance next week. When asked on his recent podcast about the likelihood of the 737 Max attending, Randy Tinseth – vice-president for marketing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes – said: "I guess you'll just have to wait to see."
Embraer is hopeful that early flight-testing of the Pratt & Whitney PW1900G-powered E-Jet E2 will go smoothly enough to allow the development aircraft time to be spared for its Farnborough debut.
"I'd love to have the aircraft fly at Farnborough," says John Slattery, Embraer's chief commercial officer for its commercial aviation arm. The company aims to confirm the E190-E2's attendance at the end of June.
After its air-show debut at ILA in Berlin earlier this month, Airbus is considering bringing its A320neo to Farnborough. Officially, the company is yet to declare its plans for the show, but sources indicate the re-engined twinjet could put in appearance during the week. Whether Airbus decides to bring a P&W-powered version or the CFM International-equipped variant remains to be seen.
Show organisers Farnborough International are expecting the PW1500G-powered Bombardier CSeries will be there – although the twinjet is becoming a bit of a regular on the air show scene having debuted at last year's Paris event and subsequently appeared in Dubai and Singapore.
All that leaves of the new breed is the PW1200G-powered Mitsubishi MRJ. Two aircraft are now in flight-test, but with the programme schedule playing catch up after several delays, the Japanese company cannot spare an MRJ for the show.
"We are currently focusing on expediting our flight-test programme, including bringing test aircraft to Moses Lake, WA to accelerate our development schedule," says Mitsubishi. "We are planning to begin the ferry flight to the USA at the end of July at the earliest."
However, Mitsubishi adds that it hopes to be able to bring the MRJ to next year's Paris air show.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
