It’s an audacious move: Enter as the new kid in a market which already
has a firmly established and much sought-after incumbent as well as a
trendy, headline-grabbing incomer. But Airbus was faced with either
developing a new aircraft to challenge the Boeing 777 and 787, or risk
ending up being a non-player in the medium-to-longhaul widebody market.
Its answer was the A350 XWB, an aircraft which has endured a long and difficult development with two major redesigns. But with the aircraft now in its final assembly phase and having logged 555 firm orders from 34 customers in 25 countries, there is growing interest in how this aircraft will fare in a segment which is lucrative in dollar terms. It is also a market that is global in its reach.
Customers include Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAM, Thai Airways and United Airlines. Qatar is the launch customer and Air France has placed a memorandum of understanding.
The A350 XWB development program is picking up pace this year. Its exclusive new engine—the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB—made its maiden flight aboard Airbus’ dedicated A380 flying-test-bed aircraft in February. The aircraft took off from Airbus facilities in Toulouse and flew more than five hours at altitudes up to 43,000 feet. The aircraft handling qualities were evaluated from low speeds up to Mach 0.9.
The Trent XWB development engine was mounted on the A380’s inner left engine pylon, replacing one of the aircraft’s Trent 900 engines.
“This was a promising start to the Trent XWB’s flight-test program which will ensure a thorough real-life testing of the engine, nacelle and its systems,” said Airbus EVP, engineering, Charles Champion. “This will allow for a high level of powerplant integration, maturity and reliability to be achieved by the time it flies on the first A350 XWB aircraft.”
Commencing around one year before the A350 XWB’s first flight, this engine flight-test program is scheduled to accumulate around 175 flight hours—some three times more airborne flying hours than on previous programs. This will be accomplished over a seven-month period and will include hot weather as well as icing condition testing campaigns. It will also test the Goodrich advanced nacelle and thrust reverser system provided.
The overall objective is an early and systematic validation of all performance aspects of the engine and its associated systems.
The beginning of the flying test-bed program was an important milestone, but the A350 still has much to prove and remains prone to schedule delay risks that now seem inherent with new generation aircraft. In November, Airbus parent EADS announced it was pushing back the A350’s in-service entry date by six months to the first half of 2014.
Even after the delay announcement, Airbus was not prepared to narrow the in-service date beyond that six-month window, preferring to have some breathing room should it need to deal with production issues.
Family Line
One of Airbus’ marketing messages against its American-built rivals is that the A350 is not one aircraft, but a family of aircraft that follows the same design strategy as the A320 family and which addresses two market segments: the -800 and -900 variants in the small widebody market; and the -1000 in the intermediate widebody sector. The first two go head to head with the Boeing 787, while the third competes with the Boeing 777.
According to Airbus’ market outlook, there will be a need for 6,400 new passenger aircraft over the 2011-2030 period. Within that, the large majority of demand—4,518—will be for small twin aisles. This is a large, but highly competitive market because the -800 and -900 are up against the 787-800 and -900 as well as the Airbus A330. According to Airbus, 63% of that market is still up for grabs.
“This market has really evolved. In 2007, the 250-seater was the big market player. But in 2011, slightly more 300-seaters were sold than 250-seaters,” Airbus A350 XWB MD Mike Bausor said.
The exception to that rule for now is Europe, with most carriers in that region still to make a decision on their 300-seater choices.
Airbus, meanwhile, has chalked up 368 firm orders from 22 customers for the -900, the aircraft that is now due to enter service in the first half of 2014. For the -800, the manufacturer has 118 firm orders from 14 customers, and scheduled service entry date is mid-2016. The -1000, meanwhile, has logged 69 orders and is scheduled to enter service in mid-2017.
The A350’s family concept reaches across all variants; they share the same cockpit and cabin, meaning that there is a single type rating for all A350 pilots. Similarly, cabin crew and maintenance technicians can switch across variants with a single qualification. This reduces training time and costs as well as reducing the number of spare parts that are required.
The passenger experience is also common across all variants, with the same inflight entertainment system and cabin environment. The cabin is pressurized to 6,000 feet, has wider windows for maximum viewing and includes mood lighting and LED bulbs that last the lifetime of the aircraft.
The aircraft will seat nine-abreast in the economy cabin and will accommodate seats that are 18 inches wide in that baseline configuration versus the 17 inch, 10-abreast layout of the 777. The A350 cabin is five inches wider than the 787. An all fiber-optic, high definition TV IFE system will be available throughout all cabins. This fourth-generation IFE system requires no separate underseat box, so legroom is improved.
A first for Airbus aircraft will be the A350’s crew rest compartments in the aircraft crown, providing space for up to eight cabin crew bunks and also two bunks plus a workstation for flight crew. Entrances to these rest areas are located outside the passenger cabin, so they do not use up seat space. “This is the first time a crew rest area on an aircraft will have no revenue-generating impact,” Bausor said.
While optional, the large majority of customers have selected these crown-located crew rest areas, Bausor said. But it is a retrofittable feature.
The -1000, meanwhile, enters the 350-seater market to challenge the 777. Airbus sees total market demand for aircraft of this size by 2030 being 1,907 and says 80% of this market has yet to be decided. Being the newcomer to this market is a huge challenge; the 777-300ER has firmly established itself as the benchmark aircraft in this segment.
Airbus is therefore working to deliver figures that to meet or beat that benchmark. The 97,000-lb. thrust Trent XWB engines will deliver 400 nautical miles more range, carry 4.5 tonnes more payload and will use 1% less fuel, according to Airbus. “The feedback we are getting is that those figures hit the mark of what customers are looking for,” Bausor said.
Composites
Like its 787 rival, the A350 is a “plastic plane” with a carbon fiber fuselage. Composites make up some 53% of the A350—slightly more than the 787—but the cockpit-nose will be aluminum to provide better protection against birdstrikes and better shielding for the avionics.
Despite the well-documented production hazards that come with building composite aircraft, Airbus says its experience gained through the A380 production program as well as the extensive, multi-faceted A350 design and test program, is valuable in planning for and mitigating risks.
“We are fortunate to have the A380 in service for four years and that gives us a brilliant foundation. It gives us more precision about what to anticipate,” Bausor said. “With the aerodynamics, for instance, we have just done a lot of wind tunnel testing and the aerodynamic design is closely aligned to the A380. So we know the figures are accurate.”
One big lesson learned from the A380 program is that if there are sub-component delivery issues at the final production stage, it will be better to stop the line and wait until that is resolved rather than keep the line moving. Airbus says that is one philosophy behind its six-month delay; a two-to-three month production stoppage could be accommodated if necessary and the manufacturer would still be able to keep within its new 2014 first-half delivery promise.
“We now know that you cannot afford to not have components and sub-assemblies where you need them. It’s better to stop and wait for the fix than to end up getting the line out of control,” Bausor said.
On the testing side, Airbus has adopted a multi-level approach that makes heavy use of virtual mockups, component and sub-assembly demonstrators so that testing of all aircraft sections, including the nose, center and rear fuselage, can be completed in a compressed timescale before final assembly.
At the full-system test phase, simulators will be hooked to an iron bird referred to as “aircraft 0,” which will “fly” all components as an integrated aircraft in a program that will begin later this year and provide data ahead of the planned five-aircraft, one-year flight test program that is set to begin around the first quarter of 2013.
The next 12 months will be test-and-truth time for the A350 program. Keeping to the new schedule will be critical to how boldly it enters the widebody market.
Its answer was the A350 XWB, an aircraft which has endured a long and difficult development with two major redesigns. But with the aircraft now in its final assembly phase and having logged 555 firm orders from 34 customers in 25 countries, there is growing interest in how this aircraft will fare in a segment which is lucrative in dollar terms. It is also a market that is global in its reach.
Customers include Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAM, Thai Airways and United Airlines. Qatar is the launch customer and Air France has placed a memorandum of understanding.
The A350 XWB development program is picking up pace this year. Its exclusive new engine—the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB—made its maiden flight aboard Airbus’ dedicated A380 flying-test-bed aircraft in February. The aircraft took off from Airbus facilities in Toulouse and flew more than five hours at altitudes up to 43,000 feet. The aircraft handling qualities were evaluated from low speeds up to Mach 0.9.
The Trent XWB development engine was mounted on the A380’s inner left engine pylon, replacing one of the aircraft’s Trent 900 engines.
“This was a promising start to the Trent XWB’s flight-test program which will ensure a thorough real-life testing of the engine, nacelle and its systems,” said Airbus EVP, engineering, Charles Champion. “This will allow for a high level of powerplant integration, maturity and reliability to be achieved by the time it flies on the first A350 XWB aircraft.”
Commencing around one year before the A350 XWB’s first flight, this engine flight-test program is scheduled to accumulate around 175 flight hours—some three times more airborne flying hours than on previous programs. This will be accomplished over a seven-month period and will include hot weather as well as icing condition testing campaigns. It will also test the Goodrich advanced nacelle and thrust reverser system provided.
The overall objective is an early and systematic validation of all performance aspects of the engine and its associated systems.
The beginning of the flying test-bed program was an important milestone, but the A350 still has much to prove and remains prone to schedule delay risks that now seem inherent with new generation aircraft. In November, Airbus parent EADS announced it was pushing back the A350’s in-service entry date by six months to the first half of 2014.
Even after the delay announcement, Airbus was not prepared to narrow the in-service date beyond that six-month window, preferring to have some breathing room should it need to deal with production issues.
Family Line
One of Airbus’ marketing messages against its American-built rivals is that the A350 is not one aircraft, but a family of aircraft that follows the same design strategy as the A320 family and which addresses two market segments: the -800 and -900 variants in the small widebody market; and the -1000 in the intermediate widebody sector. The first two go head to head with the Boeing 787, while the third competes with the Boeing 777.
According to Airbus’ market outlook, there will be a need for 6,400 new passenger aircraft over the 2011-2030 period. Within that, the large majority of demand—4,518—will be for small twin aisles. This is a large, but highly competitive market because the -800 and -900 are up against the 787-800 and -900 as well as the Airbus A330. According to Airbus, 63% of that market is still up for grabs.
“This market has really evolved. In 2007, the 250-seater was the big market player. But in 2011, slightly more 300-seaters were sold than 250-seaters,” Airbus A350 XWB MD Mike Bausor said.
The exception to that rule for now is Europe, with most carriers in that region still to make a decision on their 300-seater choices.
Airbus, meanwhile, has chalked up 368 firm orders from 22 customers for the -900, the aircraft that is now due to enter service in the first half of 2014. For the -800, the manufacturer has 118 firm orders from 14 customers, and scheduled service entry date is mid-2016. The -1000, meanwhile, has logged 69 orders and is scheduled to enter service in mid-2017.
The A350’s family concept reaches across all variants; they share the same cockpit and cabin, meaning that there is a single type rating for all A350 pilots. Similarly, cabin crew and maintenance technicians can switch across variants with a single qualification. This reduces training time and costs as well as reducing the number of spare parts that are required.
The passenger experience is also common across all variants, with the same inflight entertainment system and cabin environment. The cabin is pressurized to 6,000 feet, has wider windows for maximum viewing and includes mood lighting and LED bulbs that last the lifetime of the aircraft.
The aircraft will seat nine-abreast in the economy cabin and will accommodate seats that are 18 inches wide in that baseline configuration versus the 17 inch, 10-abreast layout of the 777. The A350 cabin is five inches wider than the 787. An all fiber-optic, high definition TV IFE system will be available throughout all cabins. This fourth-generation IFE system requires no separate underseat box, so legroom is improved.
A first for Airbus aircraft will be the A350’s crew rest compartments in the aircraft crown, providing space for up to eight cabin crew bunks and also two bunks plus a workstation for flight crew. Entrances to these rest areas are located outside the passenger cabin, so they do not use up seat space. “This is the first time a crew rest area on an aircraft will have no revenue-generating impact,” Bausor said.
While optional, the large majority of customers have selected these crown-located crew rest areas, Bausor said. But it is a retrofittable feature.
The -1000, meanwhile, enters the 350-seater market to challenge the 777. Airbus sees total market demand for aircraft of this size by 2030 being 1,907 and says 80% of this market has yet to be decided. Being the newcomer to this market is a huge challenge; the 777-300ER has firmly established itself as the benchmark aircraft in this segment.
Airbus is therefore working to deliver figures that to meet or beat that benchmark. The 97,000-lb. thrust Trent XWB engines will deliver 400 nautical miles more range, carry 4.5 tonnes more payload and will use 1% less fuel, according to Airbus. “The feedback we are getting is that those figures hit the mark of what customers are looking for,” Bausor said.
Composites
Like its 787 rival, the A350 is a “plastic plane” with a carbon fiber fuselage. Composites make up some 53% of the A350—slightly more than the 787—but the cockpit-nose will be aluminum to provide better protection against birdstrikes and better shielding for the avionics.
Despite the well-documented production hazards that come with building composite aircraft, Airbus says its experience gained through the A380 production program as well as the extensive, multi-faceted A350 design and test program, is valuable in planning for and mitigating risks.
“We are fortunate to have the A380 in service for four years and that gives us a brilliant foundation. It gives us more precision about what to anticipate,” Bausor said. “With the aerodynamics, for instance, we have just done a lot of wind tunnel testing and the aerodynamic design is closely aligned to the A380. So we know the figures are accurate.”
One big lesson learned from the A380 program is that if there are sub-component delivery issues at the final production stage, it will be better to stop the line and wait until that is resolved rather than keep the line moving. Airbus says that is one philosophy behind its six-month delay; a two-to-three month production stoppage could be accommodated if necessary and the manufacturer would still be able to keep within its new 2014 first-half delivery promise.
“We now know that you cannot afford to not have components and sub-assemblies where you need them. It’s better to stop and wait for the fix than to end up getting the line out of control,” Bausor said.
On the testing side, Airbus has adopted a multi-level approach that makes heavy use of virtual mockups, component and sub-assembly demonstrators so that testing of all aircraft sections, including the nose, center and rear fuselage, can be completed in a compressed timescale before final assembly.
At the full-system test phase, simulators will be hooked to an iron bird referred to as “aircraft 0,” which will “fly” all components as an integrated aircraft in a program that will begin later this year and provide data ahead of the planned five-aircraft, one-year flight test program that is set to begin around the first quarter of 2013.
The next 12 months will be test-and-truth time for the A350 program. Keeping to the new schedule will be critical to how boldly it enters the widebody market.
No comments:
Post a Comment