The A350 is Airbus’s newest aircraft. Since the ending of the A380 program, the plane
llhas also become the company’s largest offering. Unlike other recent updates – such
as the A320neo and A330neo – the A350 is a new clean sheet design. But… How did it
come to be? And how has it been received by airlines and the industry?
Airbus developed the A350 to compete with the Boeing 787. Boeing launched its clean
sheet project, with a focus on efficiency improvements, in 2004. However, at that time,
the Airbus A380 had yet to enter service, and it is fair to say the company was focussing
on a different area of the market. Improvements in efficiency and emissions reduction
have been a major focus of aircraft design for decades. It’s a new direction since
the early days of jet development, when speed, range, and capacity took a leading role.
The 737 and A320 have been through several variants since launch, each improving on efficiency
and operating cost. Developments such as the A320neo and 737 Next Generation and MAX are
still based on the same original airframe designs.
To take full advantage of the advancements in technology, Boeing opted for a new design
for the 787, and Airbus did the same for the A350.
In fact, the A350 competes not just with the 787 but also the 777. It sits somewhere between
the two. As Airbus’s largest offering, the A350-1000 will go up against the new 777X
as well. Although the larger 777-9 sits above it in terms of capacity.
Before the launch of the Boeing 787, Airbus was planning its next widebody based on the
A330, with new engines and a partial carbon fiber construction. But when the 787 hit the
market and generated strong early interest from airlines, Airbus had to revisit these
plans. It announced a revised clean sheet A350XWB
at the 2006 Farnborough Air Show, and a final design emerged later that year. Development
was planned to begin in 2007, with a target of entering service in 2013.
The new A350 was planned with three variants – the A350-800, -900, and -1000, each with
increasing capacity. It would feature a fully redesigned composite fuselage, a composite
wing with blended winglets, and new engines. Its series name A350XWB gives away one feature
that differentiated the aircraft from the 787. Its XWB, or ‘Extra Wide Body,’ cabin
would allow for 10-abreast seating in economy, although most airlines have opted for a more
sp acious 9-abreast.
As with any aircraft, the A350 engines are critical to its performance. General Electric
offered a version of its GEnx engine for the A350XWB – the same engine powering the 787.
While this would work well for the smaller -800 and -900 variants, GE did not offer a
higher thrust option for the A350-1000. Rolls-Royce could offer this with the Trent XWB engine,
which became the preferred powerplant for all A350 variants.
Airbus started as a consortium of manufacturers across Europe, and its production remains
geographically spread, following this same model. The A350 took this further with its
A350 project, with several new production facilities launched. Some of the main sites
include: Broughton in Wales, UK for the wings
Puerto Real and Getafe in Spain for fuselage and tailplane sections
Saint-Nazaire, France for the nose fuselage ,, France for parts of the fuselage and keel
beam Hamburg, Germany for the rear fuselage
Bremen, Hamburg for final wing components (after construction in Broughton)
All components come together for final assembly in Toulouse.
The originally proposed smallest variant, the A350-800, would have offered a typical
three-class capacity of 276 (compared to 300-350 for the A350-900 and 350-410 for the A350-1000).
It would have been just over six meters shorter than the A350-900 and offered a small range
improvement of 250 kilometers. It was initially popular, with as many as
182 orders in mid-2008. Some of these were switched to the A350-900 as airlines revised
plans. But... the real end for the A350-800 was the launch of the A330neo at the Farnborough
Airshow in 2014. The A330-900 offered a similar capacity to
the A350-800. And many airlines already operated A330-200 or A330-300 aircraft, so they could
maintain commonality. Most airlines switched over to the A330neo
or went with the larger A350-900. Eventually, with enough market forces conspiring against
it, Airbus decided to scrap the A350-800.
In January 2015, the A350-900 entered service with Qatar Airways. A month later in February,
the larger A350-1000 followed suit, also launched by Qatar Airways.
As of March 2021, there have been 913 orders – 745 for the A350-900 and 168 for the A350-1000.
And to date, 362 and 54 of each type have been delivered by Airbus.
Simple Flying took a detailed look at the main operators for the A350 in late 2020.
Qatar Airways is the la rgest customer, with 76 aircraft ordered (although Singapore Airlines
is close behind with 67 and currently has more delivered).
The type is very popular across Asia and Europe. But its penetration is lower in the US, with
only Delta Air Lines operating it. United Airlines has an order, but this has been deferred
until 2027.
So, how does this compare to the 787 it set out to compete against? The 787 has sold more
units, but it has been on the market longer. It also crosses more into the lower capacity
and range market. As of March 2021, there were 994 aircraft delivered, and 495 remaining
on order. In reality, rather than this showing that
the 787 has beaten the A350, it shows the popularity of both planes. The clean sheet
developments have been smart moves by both Boeing and Airbus, and this will likely remain
so as the focus moves more to efficiency and emissions reduction.
As a new aircraft and now Airbus’ largest offering, the A350 has formed a leading part
of many airline fleets. Like we saw with aircraft like the 747 and the A380, many airlines have
chosen the A350 to launch new onboard cabins and products.
British Airways, for example, first offered its new Club Suite – a long-awaited upgrade
to its Club World business class product – on the A350. And coming soon, Lufthansa may use
the A350 to launch its new business class product. This was originally intended for
the 777X, but with delivery delays, it is now more likely on the A350 or the 787.
Singapore Airlines also deserves mention here. It operates the specifically configured long-range
A350-900ULR, with just 67 business class and 94 premium economy seats. This currently flies
Singapore to New York as the world’s longest flight.
The immediate future for the A350 is clouded by the pandemic and global slowdown. With
almost 500 A350s on order, many of these are being delayed or even possibly canceled.
Customers like Emirates are one bright spot, with 50 A350-900s on order, as it plans significant
changes to its all A380 and Boeing 777 fleet. While the Airbus order remains in place, Emirates
is reviewing its fleet needs going forward.
Looking further ahead, what development could we see for the A350? Although it is still
early days for the aircraft, there has already been discussion about a new engine version,
a so-called A350neo. There is also the possibility of a return
to the smaller A350-800 variant. Whilst this was originally made obsolete with the launch
of the A330neo, a renewed focus on smaller aircraft to meet lower demand post-pandemic
could see Airbus revisit its offering. Amidst the current market, it seems unlikely
Airbus would develop any larger variant. This will, of course, leave Boeing ahead in a high-capacity
offering. The upcoming 777-9 will beat it for capacity and sit in a category on its
own now that the 747-8 and A380 are out of production.
And as a final thought, what about the possibility of an A350 freighter? There is certainly space
for a new freighter that takes advantage of the technology and efficiency improvements
of new airframes. The 777X and the A350 are the obvious candidates.
Boeing has previously expressed the possibility of a freighter based on the 777-8, but nothing
has yet been confirmed. Likewise, there has been discussion about an A350 freighter but,
so far, no official announcement has been made.
It would be exciting to see Airbus expand in the cargo market and bring the advantages
of a new aircraft. But it remains an ambitious prospect given the state of the industry presently.
Cargo demand, and prices, remain high. But there are likely to be plenty of second-hand
widebody aircraft available for conversion, eating into the supply side of the freighter
market. The development would be expensive and challenging
as well. One of the advantages of the A350 is its composite fuselage structure, but this
does not lend itself well to adding large cargo access doors. Airbus would be the first
to try it with such a fuselage.
Airbus may not have conceived the efficient A350 as early as Boeing did with the 787,
but it has still worked out well for the company. What do you think of the A350? How does it
compare to the 787 and forthcoming 777X? Feel free to discuss more in
the comments.