Emirates to buy 100 A350XWB or B-787's

FLY4HOURS.BE · Post by **FLY4HOURS.BE** » 12 Jun 2007, 19:27

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... s-and.html

Jeez, what you can afford when you got the money...
This year's Bourget seems to get interesting....

teach · Post by **teach** » 12 Jun 2007, 23:08

Clark seems to be the king of repetition and drama. He's been 'announcing' this order for what, two years now, and seems to find a way to bring that exact same message (we're going to order 100 787s or A350) in the news pretty much every single week. I for one am getting rather tired of all this hot air. Order the damn planes already!

achace · Post by **achace** » 13 Jun 2007, 01:23

Clark is talking of a 330 seat plane.
I fear for Emirates economy passengers if it is the XWB900 at 10 abreast.
Clark has not mentiones the XWB1000 which could take somewhere around that number at 9 abreast.
330 seats also seems to rule out the 787 unless they can add extra rows.

Will be interesting to see if this saga is ended before the end of PAS.

Cheers
Achace

David747 · Post by **David747** » 13 Jun 2007, 05:57

This could also be the launch of the 787-10, at 330. Now if Emirates wants 10 abreast seating, both planes will not be optimized for it, which is why I feel that Airbus should have the A350 optimized to carry 10 abreast seating to better compete with Boeing and the 777. Extra wide body should really be extra wide.

Secondly, as was expressed here, this Emirates order has been announced since 2005 over and over again, and I feel that we will know Emirates decision next week at the Paris Air show. Also, rumors are that American Airlines will make a purchase in the coming weeks.

achace · Post by **achace** » 13 Jun 2007, 07:55

The XWB will take 10 abreast using an existing economy seat design, but on a 16 hour flight it wont be popular.

The 787 would need a new cabin cross section for 10 abreast I suspect, so is very unlikely, unless they bite the bullet and kill their 777 with a
787-10(XWB), which is a bit unlikely at this stage.

Unfortunately, the most noble efforts of airframe manufacturers at giving us comfort so often tend to be sacrificed in the name of economics.

Does any one remember the 747 when it first entered service was 9 abreast in economy (marvellous)!
It was BA (or maybe BOAC) who decided 10 abreast was a good idea and everyone did the same afterwards.

What a pity.

Cheers
Achace

boomer535 · Post by **boomer535** » 13 Jun 2007, 11:34

I remember flying on the AA 747-100's in the early 70's. The coach lounge in the back was fantastic!!! The last time I flew on a Philippine Airlines 747-400 it was like flyng in a sardine can for 12 hours. I think the seat was 17.2 inches wide. Can the A350 go 10 abreast with a 17.2 inch seat? I would think any smaller then that would be too uncomfortable on long flights. Funny, both the 787 and A350 are advertised as being more comfortable then existing planes. This move tword packing in as many passengers as possible could end up making them less comfortable. Passengers may be wishing they could fly on an A330 or 767 instead.

DC3 Fan · Post by **DC3 Fan** » 13 Jun 2007, 18:03

Yes, I remember the AA B747s. Here's a photo I took on a flight from LAX to IAD in 1971. There was a bowl on the piano filled with ice and cans of Michelob, which cost 50 cents on the honor system.

The 747s proved to be too large for AA and they were replaced with DC-10s.

Berova · Post by **Berova** » 14 Jun 2007, 00:35

All the comparative discussion between the XWB, 787 and 777 got me wondering, simply put, is the primary difference in the pax carrying capacity between the XWB and 787 cabin length (since the difference in width could hardly translate to additional seats)? Would someone help straighten me out on this issue? Thanks.

boomer535 · Post by **boomer535** » 14 Jun 2007, 13:07

The A350 -800 is about 13 feet longer then the 787-8. The A350-900 is about 13 feet longer then the 787-9. This is why the A350-800 carries more Pax then the 787-8 and the A350-900 carries more Pax then the 787-9. The A350's cabin is about 7 inches wider then the 787 cabin. This is all of course the current version of the A350. Things can change as the A350 design firms up.