Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE
Potential Asia-Pacific launch customers for Airbus Industrie's planned A340-500/600 growth derivatives are pressing the European consortium for a higher maximum take-off weight (MTOW) and improved payload and range performance.
Airbus is targeting Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Cathay Pacific to place Asian launch orders for the ultra-long-haul A340-500 variant. The two carriers in return are asking the manufacturer for further design enhancements to the aircraft for longer-range and higher capacity operations between Asia and US destinations.
SIA has perhaps the most demanding requirement, stipulating a 206-seat aircraft with a still-air range of 16,260km (8,800nm), plus fuel reserves, for non-stop flights from Singapore to Los Angeles.
Boeing is proposing the 777-200X, but has yet to satisfy the airline that the aircraft fully meets its payload/range requirements under all conditions.
Cathay Pacific is similarly looking for an ultra-long-haul aircraft for non-stop flights from Hong Kong to New York and Toronto. The Hong Kong airline's basic requirement is understood to be for a 14,000km-range aircraft, well within the A340-500's baseline capabilities, but one also having the larger 382-seat capacity of the shorter-range A340-600.
Airbus is trying to better Boeing's offer to SIA with a proposed higher-growth-weight version of the A340-500. The consortium is discussing an aircraft with a 365t MTOW, 9t heavier than that of the baseline -500. Airline sources suggest that the A340's MTOW could be increased to 390t with higher thrust engines. The baseline -500 will be powered by four 236kN (53,000lb)-thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 500s, but would be certificated to take up to a 267kN powerplant.
The 777-200X twinjet now being proposed would, in comparison, have a MTOW of just under 334t. Its weight is effectively capped at this level by the 454kN limit of its proposed Trent 8104 engine.
Boeing sources claim that, with addition of a single auxiliary fuel tank in the belly, the aircraft would fulfil the Singapore-Los Angeles non-stop requirement.
Meanwhile, Boeing is considering further increasing the MTOW of its planned stretched 777-300X from 325 to 334t to meet American Airlines' demands for a longer-range aircraft for use between Tokyo and Dallas. This would dictate a redesign of existing engines to meet the required thrust level, likely to be some 490kN.
Source: Flight International
