Let's say that you're sitting at an airport gate looking out at all the big jets parked
on the apron. Because you're already familiar with the basics of planespotting and aircraft
identification, you see that two Airbus A350s are parked side by side. To your knowledge,
there is only the A350-900 and the A350-1000, but the jets you see are both -900s.
And…with no updated 'neo' type variants yet to be announced..,
it seems odd that the two A350s in front of you have different winglets. So why might this be?
Let’s explore the answer to this for today’s video!
Long story short - it’s all about the pursuit of constant improvements. But
there’s definitely more to the story - a story that begins over a decade ago.
Assembly of the very first Airbus A350 prototype was completed at the end of 2012. In 2013,
the Airbus widebody had its first flight, while its first revenue service took place
in 2015 with Qatar Airways. Thus, the type is nearing a decade of service.
It’s no secret that the big planemakers, Boeing and Airbus,
upgrade their jets periodically. These incremental improvements are carried
out without necessarily giving the aircraft new names or designations.
Indeed, Airbus has increased the maximum take-off weight of some of its aircraft over the years.
For example, later A330-900s have a maximum takeoff weight (M.T.O.W.) of 251 metric tonnes,
up from the 242 metric tonnes of earlier examples.
You might also know that the earliest Boeing 787s are a few tonnes heavier
than current production models. Since those particular jets were difficult to
sell off, many dubbed this set of Dreamliners the "terrible teens."
This is something we made a long haul video about - which is worth checking out after this one!
On technical data sheets and legal documents,
these types of important changes are certainly noted. However, when it comes to the public,
the model name is often still simply listed as an "Airbus A330-900" or "Boeing 787-8." It's
the same case with older and newer Airbus A350s, as the European planemaker made some interesting
changes in 2017. One of those more noticeable adjustments was the jet's wings and winglets.
It was back in 2017 that the aviation news site Leeham News & Analysis (LNA) exclusively discussed
that Airbus was working on new winglets for the A350. On October 20th, 2017, the X (formerly
Twitter) user known as Aviation Toulouse posted a photo of an updated A350, which you can see here.
Shortly after that, new images and an in-depth analysis of the new devices were published by LNA.
Then, months later, FlightGlobal reported that Airbus had introduced larger winglets which
offered several aerodynamic improvements and "huge benefits." Simply put, the new winglets
expand the aircraft’s effective wingspan without increasing its geometric wingspan.
Speaking with A350 marketing director Francois Obe in 2018,
it was noted that Airbus had planned to introduce a package of
quote-unquote “incremental developments” in 2020, but this process was expedited.
The A350 Marketing Director of Airbus stated:
“With the aircraft being better than we have expected in service… we will be able
to deliver some of [the new developments] in 2018...We needed to be sure the aircraft
structure was good enough to sustain the additional weight, and it is the case,”
So, how do the old and new winglets differ from one another? Well, as highlighted by LNA,
the new winglets are taller and also quote-unquote "squarer" in their curvature than the initial
design. This new design wasn't a standalone change. Rather, the new wingtip was meant to
complement a new wing design for the A350. As highlighted and analyzed by LNA, the revised
design of a new wingtip and wing results in a wider 'spanload,' resulting in lower total drag.
To explain the same thing a little differently, Arthur van der Vennet’s post on Quora states:
“Through research and experimentation, Airbus found that the spanload distribution of the
wing could be improved. To achieve this, the spanwise twist and pressure distribution of
the wing was changed. The new taller winglet also changed the effective
wingspan of the aircraft without having to physically alter the length of the wing.”
As you can imagine, aircraft manufacturers tend to be fairly low-key about some of
these small improvements, opting to avoid a roll-out ceremony or even a
media statement. This was certainly the case for the A350’s new wing and
winglets - which left aviation sites to spot and analyze the new change.
Because of all this, it's a little more difficult to tell,
from an official sense, which A350 was the first to sport the new wing and winglets.
However, we can say that LNA noted in its 2017 piece that the new wing and winglet would be
quote "ready for the rollout of the first Singapore Airlines A350-900URL [in 2018]."
It added that this update will quote "find its way to the standard
A350-900 and -1000." A contributor on the popular forum Airliners.net echoes this,
stating that the larger winglet was originally part of the A350-900ULR study.
If this is the case, then all A350 with Manufacturer Serial Numbers (MSNs) 216 and above
have the new winglet design. Conversely, MSNs 215 and lower should have the original design.
The production list from Planespotters.net shows that the Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900ULR
registered 9V-SGE is the airframe with MSN 216. Considering the fact that five
years have passed since the first -900ULR was delivered and that A350 MSNs are now over 620,
it's safe to say that the majority of A350s sport the updated design. Thus, it's perhaps
more effective to list some of the early operators of the type, which would undoubtedly be operating
airframes with older winglets. In order of first deliveries (lowest MSNs), these are:
Qatar Airways Vietnam Airlines
Finnair Singapore Airlines
Cathay Pacific Ethiopian Airlines
Thai Airways Lufthansa, and more...
For those who are less experienced in planespotting, it might be difficult to
tell whether an A350 has new or old winglets. After all, it's not as drastic a change as the
winglet change between the A330-300 and A330-900. Indeed, a subtle difference
like this is most noticeable when the old and new designs are placed side by side.
But, at the end of the day,
the A350 is still a beautiful machine with beautiful winglets - whether old or new!
But did you know about this A350 design change? And what do you think of this
change from an aesthetic perspective? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment!
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