AIRBUS | A350 News & Discussion

[Pedro EM]

Cant wait for it to finally take to the skies.

[fieldsofdreams]

Originally Posted by future.architect

A great day for Airbus. I can't wait to see this flying.

Here is another photo

It's a gorgeous aircraft indeed... which airline do you think will operate it first? And will it offer similar features to the 787?

It looks like the design is a slimline version of the A330, if not much better.

[Space Invader]

Qatar will be the first to get the A350.

[noir-dresses]

Still not clear what EK will do with they're 359 order, but it should also be one of the launch customers.

[CxIxMaN]

Originally Posted by future.architect

A great day for Airbus. I can't wait to see this flying.

Here is another photo

[IMG]http://i49.************/23vyr75.jpg[/IMG]

looks damm skinny! I was expecting something as fat as the 777. I mean why are they calling it the XWB Xtra Wide Body?

[Сталин]

Originally Posted by CxIxMaN

looks damm skinny! I was expecting something as fat as the 777. I mean why are they calling it the XWB Xtra Wide Body?

I was expecting something fatter too.

[Space Invader]

It does look skinny, a bit 757 style, but don't forget that the windows are bigger, so like the 787, it gives a smaller appearence, and the lack of engines might change the vision aswell.
Also, the 777 cabin width is 20 cm wider than the A350, nothing that we can actually notice on a picture, but just to say XWB is a bit fake advertising.

[julesstoop]

For some this is probably an interesting comparison between many current and near future long haul twin engine jets from both Airbus and Boeing.

[Сталин]

Nice comparison! Any diagrams of the winglets? They seem massive on that wing.

[fieldsofdreams]

Also a notable difference: the winglets on the A330 seem to be forced out as if it was an add-on, while the winglets on the A350 seem to be built with the wing, making it a more natural look.

[Сталин]

Originally Posted by fieldsofdreams

Also a notable difference: the winglets on the A330 seem to be forced out as if it was an add-on, while the winglets on the A350 seem to be built with the wing, making it a more natural look.

These are from the a350? Anyways for a comparison:

[future.architect]

Originally Posted by CxIxMaN

I mean why are they calling it the XWB Xtra Wide Body?

There are two reasons why it is called the Xtra Wide Body.

1- It is 32cm wider than the A330/ A340 which uses the 40 year old A300 fuselage.

2- The first version of the A350 was basically a major refresh of the A330. When Airbus decided that the A350 was to be a totally new plane they needed some way to differentiate it from the old A350 hence the XWB suffix was chosen to denote the fact that the fuselage was wider than other Airbus aircraft .

The 777 doesn't even come into this.

[fieldsofdreams]

Originally Posted by Сталин

These are from the a350? Anyways for a comparison:

Yes. The winglets on the A330 gives me an impression that it is just an extension to the wing, similar to the A320.

[Momo1435]

Didn't Airbus use the wings as the A300 as the base of the A330/A340 wings, that could the reason why it looks like the winglets were added later.

It looks the same as the winglets on the 747-400 and the MD-11 that also use older wing designs. It was only the 737NG that had was the 1st plane with winglets that looked like they were not just added to the wing.

It's also interesting that Airbus went with the winglets design while Boeing now uses the raked wingtips on their most recent wide bodies. That will remain the main difference to instantly recognize the A350 vs. the 787

[sbtcsem]

Well, i think the winglet appearance change is a progress of aerodynamic technology. The Il-96's wing was designed with winglets initially, and they still have angles. Il-96 didn't use the wing of Il-86.
And when 747-400 and MD-11 designers added winglets to the old wing, they could still bend the winglets to make a smooth transition but they didn't. From my point of view it's because that's what they know about winglets in their times.
An example is the A320 sharklets, they are winglets added to the older wing design but they are blended winglets.

[future.architect]

This will be the year of the A350 and what a great start it has been. Already we have seen 30 new XWB orders announced, Singapore Airlines for 20 and CIT for 10. This brings the total up to 592 firm orders.

Hopefully in around March/April, we will see the roll out of the first A350 and in June/July the first flight. Fingers crossed that nothing will go wrong.

[Леонид]

there is something im confused .. so if anyone can help me answer some questions:

is the A350 the replacement for A340?
Is the A350 longer and bigger than the A340?
Who is the A350 competing with 787 or 777?
Why make another wide body as a A350 when you already have twin engine big one on the the market as a A300 -300?

Your comments and answers are widely appreciated

[julesstoop]

In response to your last question: technology (design and manufacturing) and materials improve (become lighter and stronger) and because of that newer planes can be cleaner, more silent and more fuel efficient. Fuel is getting ever more expensive and environmental legislation gets more stringent by the year so there is an important economical advantage for Airbus to be gained if they sell a plane which can transport 350 people over 7000 miles more cheaply than their main competitor. Somewhere in the design process Airbus found out that an adaptation of the existing 330 wouldn't give them a sufficient advantage, so they decided to design an all new airplane.

[fieldsofdreams]

Originally Posted by Леонид

there is something im confused .. so if anyone can help me answer some questions:

is the A350 the replacement for A340?
Is the A350 longer and bigger than the A340?
Who is the A350 competing with 787 or 777?
Why make another wide body as a A350 when you already have twin engine big one on the the market as a A300 -300?

Your comments and answers are widely appreciated

Let me answer your questions briefly:

The A350 is not really a replacement for the A340, given that it has two engines instead of four; rather, it is an enhanced version of the A330 that allows airlines to carry a lot of passengers per flight (around 300 to 350 passengers) with the fuel efficiency of two engines instead of four with the A340. And, with improved engines, the A350 can fly longer than its similar aircraft, the A330. Think of it as the combination of a two-engined aircraft with the range of a four-engined aircraft rolled into one — thus it is a competitor to the B777 and B787.

The A350 isn't really that longer than an A340, either; it is shorter than the A340-600, sure, but the relative lengths between it and the A340-200, A340-300, and A340-500 are similar. However, it appears that the aircraft is similar in length to an older aircraft: the B767-300.

Did you mean the A330-200 and A330-300? Simple. The A330-200 may be of similar size and length to the A350, but, its current range is shorter than its sister aircraft, the A340 family, and it carries fewer passengers (around 300). Plus, the A330-300 is better suited for medium-haul flights that can carry a lot of passengers (e.g. Between 350 to 440) per flight. Thus, Airbus had to develop a new aircraft family that can combine a longer flight range it has succeeded with the A340 family with the fuel efficiency and range carried with a B777... Thus the A350 is part of a growing family of aircraft that combines fuel efficiency with just two engines, longer range for flights, and number of passengers carried per flight.

[Momo1435]

The A350 project started of as a A330 NEO, but it didn't gain any commercial momentum. Airbus had to go back to the drawing board and with all the changes to the original concept it evolved into a completely new plane, the A350.

The A350 variants are placed in capacity as a replacement for the 767-300, 777 all variants, B747-400, A330 all variants, A340 all variants. It's goes head on with the 787-9 and Boeing's 787-10 and the 777X developments.

Although the A350 is not longer then the A340 it's still bigger since it has a wider fuselage. The A350 will easily fit 9 seats abreast where the A340 only fit 8 seats abreast in economy class.


ps.
In a revival of fortunes the A330NEO design that was initially rejected by the major airlines is now being on the boards again because of some major interest from the industry. AirAsia for example is very interested in this re-engined version of the A330. This interest is caused by the success of the A330 over the last 10 years and the problems and delays that seem to hit all the completely new developments, see the A380 and the 787. This made the airlines a bit hesitant with the A350 program that already seen some major delays., wanting an alternative that is also a step more efficient than the current generation A330s.