Airbus A350 XWB news

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sn26567
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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Today the Finnair A350 was flying at FL430 (!) between HEL and VIE, on its tour of Europe for the training of crews.

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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FL430 is nothing special. Any recent wide-body will fly that flight level in the last two hours of the flight if there is not much payload. The almost "old" 744 will even go to FL450.

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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FL430 is still realtively rare in normal day-to-day operations. Newer designs tend to be able to go much higher earlier on in the flight. The 744 can go up to FL450 (45100 feet on the type certificate), but it will very rarely cruise there in real life operations, save for some ferry flights and lightly loaded flights.

The limiting factor for the service ceiling is most often the time it takes for the aircraft to reach 14000 feet during an emergency descent, not the actual altitude it could physically reach. (Although a good design will of course be developed so that it is very close to that specification anyway.)
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Re: Airbus A350 news

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KriVa wrote:The limiting factor for the service ceiling is most often the time it takes for the aircraft to reach 14000 feet during an emergency descent, not the actual altitude it could physically reach. (Although a good design will of course be developed so that it is very close to that specification anyway.)
Do you have more information on the exact requirement? I know it is mentioned in training manuals as "one of" the requirements involved, but I was taught (engineering) this is more a "checked" thing.

The aircraft might even safely descend from higher altitudes within time limits if required, but the manufacturer chose a lower maximum to reduce certification costs as certifying the aircraft to a higher altitude does not give any commercial benefits anyway. Same for maximum speeds. The aircraft might be able to fly higher M/IAS numbers, but it was never tested and certified for this as speed are only important "around the bucket".

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Qatar Airways is interested in buying a stretched A350-1000 derivative should Airbus build one, but only if it outperforms the B777-9X.
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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Bracebrace wrote:FL430 is nothing special. Any recent wide-body will fly that flight level in the last two hours of the flight
Indeed, that was also on my flight with the B787-800 , OO-JDL of Jetairfly , BRU - VAR last february

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy indicates a decision on a larger version of the A350 is nearing.

Another decision that has to be made more quickly is whether Airbus will build a larger version of the A350. “We have to make up our mind,” Leahy says without indicating when exactly the decision will be made. His concern is Airbus’ prediction that the part of the market that can be addressed with it is relatively small will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If Airbus waited too long, the remaining share of the market will become smaller as Boeing grabs more orders with the 777-9X. Therefore Airbus “is talking with a few big airlines right now” about the A350 stretch. “We have to answer ourselves that the market is large enough.”

A stretch would add around 40-50 seats to the A350-1000 capacity and put it in the 400-seat category that is currently 777-9X terrain.

Source: Aviation Week
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Re: Airbus A350 news

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sn26567 wrote:Qatar Airways is interested in buying a stretched A350-1000 derivative should Airbus build one, but only if it outperforms the B777-9X.
At times I don't understand airbus marketing policy ..
If they can build a B777-9-like derivative, why wait today to let it know ?
When big players like LH, EK etc .. already commited to the Boeing plane ?
It's not like a big market in which 2 players can easily fit in ..
Is'nt it painfull catching up with Boeing's offering when all the cards were at hand already 1 yr back or more ?
..
Same can be said regarding the B787-10, airbus could have proposed a simple stretch from the A350-900, that would be the same range but a bit larger, matching the capacity of the A350-1000, with excellent economics. But nothing such is disclosed ..
On the same register, they could otherwise evaluate a simple strecth from the A350-1000 baseline, that would match the capacity of a B777-9 with the range of a B787-10, still very attractive ito of casm, probably adapted for most current B777W missions . And it would'nt compete head to head with a Boeing product.
Well I suppose the airbus team are evaluating their position as should be, although I find at times it comes late in the day ...

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Ethiopian Airlines plans to place orders for at least 10 A350-900s in next two years, in addition to the 14 already on order.
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Re: Airbus A350 news

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The second A350 for Cathay Pacific (MSN 32) has emerged from the paint shop in Toulouse with the new livery of the carrier. Stunning!

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Wow, beautiful!!!

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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The first A350 XWB of TAM made its maiden flight in Toulouse today. Strange that it is not yet in the LATAM colours...

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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The second Finnair A350 is superb in its oneworld livery. It was delivered today.

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Special Christmas delivery! The first A350-1000 wing leaves the UK for Germany in the Beluga:

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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John Leahy, chief Airbus marketeer, at the Airbus press conference today: "777 orders for the A350 XWB (something mystical here ;-) )"

14 A350s were delivered in 2015.
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Re: Airbus A350 news

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777 orders for the A350 XWB
:lol:

Waiting for order 787 of the A350XWB :D

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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' Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. is set to announce a deal for 12 Airbus Group SE A350-1000 jets with a list price of $4.3 billion as Richard Branson’s flagship carrier renews its wide-body leisure fleet, according to people with knowledge of the plan. '
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -a350-deal

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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Does it mean that Virgin gives up its intention to buy A380s?
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Re: Airbus A350 news

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Airbus sales chief John Leahy hinted at a possible decision in 2016 to build a 400-seat A350-1100, with EIS soon after 2020.
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Re: Airbus A350 news

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sn26567 wrote:Does it mean that Virgin gives up its intention to buy A380s?
According the same article :

' The carrier remains on Airbus’s customer list for the A380 superjumbo, though it has deferred delivery of six planes ordered until 2018 at the earliest.'
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -a350-deal

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