In one of the most unexpected orders of the year, Japan Airlines have turned to Airbus for long haul aircraft, with an order for 31 aircraft. The order will be composed of the new Airbus A350, made up of: - 18 Airbus A350-900 - 13 Airbus A350-1000 Airbus A350-900 and A350-1000 flying in formation - Rendering, Airbus Additional orders for 25 Airbus A350 aircraft are … [Read more...]
Airbus to fly the A350 at Paris? Maybe…..
According to Reuters, there is a chance that the Airbus A350 could make a surprise turn at the Paris Air Show 2013. The indications are that due to the limited time in the air if it makes it airborn and passes checks is that the Airbus A350 MSN1 will conduct a flypast and not a landing. The confidence in the ranks that the A350 is flight ready is growing, with a predicted … [Read more...]
Airbus to abandon Li-Ion Batteries for the A350
The fallout continues from the Boeing 787 battery incident, with the other major aviation player Airbus deciding to abandon the use of Lithium Ion batteries about its new A350, whilst going back to nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cad) batteries as a "risk reduction strategy" according to Flight This will apply to the production aircraft - however MSN1 (the first Airbus A350), as well as … [Read more...]
Singapore Airlines firms up more A380’s and A350’s
Time to turn our attention away from the Boeing 787 and turn to the other new big aircraft in the air/in development. Singapore Airlines has finalised an order with Airbus for five A380's and 20 A350-900 aircraft, with a list price of US$7.5 Billion. This will boosts the Singapore Airlines cadre of A380's to 24 aircraft - with 19 in operation at the moment. Only Emirates … [Read more...]
Airplane Art Extra – Airbus A350 Tailfin
It's Wednesday, so it must be time for some Airplane Art Extra! This special comes from Airbus S.A.S. who have unveiled the fully painted horizontal stabiliser of their new Airbus A350 aircraft Image - Airbus S.A.S. This vertical stabiliser will be integrated into the first Airbus A350 (MSN1), standing at a proud 10 meters high. For the vertical stabiliser … [Read more...]
Airbus A350XWB to be delayed further
In what should surprise no-one, the new Airbus A350XWB is going to be delayed further. A three month delay has been announced, with the predicted entry into service now pushed into the second half of 2014. The A350 was already suffering a year of delays as it goes from concept, to a real aircraft. The delay has been caused by a production problem involving drilling … [Read more...]
Airbus: A350 is going to be late, A340 is no longer for sale.
Two bits of news from Airbus today. Firstly, the Airbus A350 unsurprisingly.. is going to be late (and anyone who thought the A350 would be on time really needs to look at the recent history of new aircraft deliveries from both Boeing and Airbus). The A350-900's schedule has now slipped to "final assembly" beginning in early 2012, and Entry into Service to the first … [Read more...]
Breaking apart the order – United orders 25 A350’s and 25 B787’s
Ok, now I'm not working on real work, its time to do an analysis. With a mixed order of 25 of each type of aircraft (with options for 50 more of each - so a possible 75 aircraft of each class), what is United trying to achive? Fleet Replacement- The 747's and 767's are up for the chop in this case. The 747's are being replaced with Airbus A350-900's (with 11% more … [Read more...]
** BREAKING – United orders 25 A350’s and 25 B787’s ***
Well it seems United seems to be as good at taking a descsion as most major organisatons with the order of intent for 25 Boeing 787-8's and 25 Airbus A350XWB-900's. Yes - it's a 50/50 split for both Boeing and Airbus. More analysis later with a few pictures if you're good! … [Read more...]
Virgin buys more Twin-Engined Jets – Throws out quadrapuff strategy….
Something that happened yesterday.. Virgin Atlantic became 25 years old... but more importantly for the geeks amongst us, Virgin made an order for more aircraft - this time more Airbus A330's. Hang on. This from the airline that said "4 engines 4 longhaul". They're also on the warpath for Boeing 787-9's and Airbus 350's. Now there is a sign that someone has visited the … [Read more...]
