As the industry evolves in the 21st century, aircraft designs lean more towards efficiency over capacity. While Boeing had a head start with the 777 and 787 Dreamliner, Airbus needed an answer to catch up. The result is the Airbus A350. In this blog post, I will go over the history of the aircraft as well as the specific variants of the type.
Background of Airbus A350 Development
Initially the A350 was developed to compete with the 787 Dreamliner (for more information about that plane, check out my post). However the main focus at the time for Airbus was the A380. At the same time, efficiency and a reduction of emissions was a bigger focus for aircraft design. That’s why Boeing and Airbus upgraded their 737 and A320 series respectively with the 737 NG/MAX and A320neo series. In addition, Airbus upgraded their A330 series with the A330neo. But if Airbus were to take advantage of new technologies, clean sheet designs were necessary. That’s why Boeing designed the 787 and Airbus designed the A350. But the 787 isn’t the only aircraft Airbus is competing against. The A350 can also siphon orders away from the Boeing 777 because its size is in between the 787 and 777. Even the A350-1000 can go up against the 777X despite the latter being larger.
Development
Before the Dreamliner was launched, Airbus initially planned their next aircraft to be based on the A330 with new engines and a partial carbon fiber fuselage. But when the Dreamliner was launched, Airbus had to revise these plans. The newly christened A350 would eventually be announced at the 2006 Farnborough Air Show with the final design emerging later in the year. Airbus wanted the development to start in 2007 with a target service entry date in 2013. The big question was which manufacturer was going to build the engines to power the bird. Initially General Electric started out being the preferred manufacturer utilizing a version of the GEnx (that powers the 787 and 747-8). While it would work well for smaller variants, GE couldn’t make a higher thrust version for the A350-1000. So, Airbus turned to Rolls-Royce, whose Trent XWB engine has the ability to power all variants. As with previous aircraft, the A350’s supply chain was still spread throughout the continent with even new production facilities including:
Broughton in Wales, UK for the wings
Puerto Real and Getafe in Spain for fuselage and empennage sections
Saint Nazaire, France for the front section of fuselage
Nantes, France for parts of the fuselage and keel beam
Hamburg, Germany for the rear fuselage
Bremen, Hamburg for final wing components
And just like with all other Airbus aircraft, final assembly is completed in Toulouse. Similar to how Boeing developed the Dreamlifter to transport Dreamliner fuselage components, Airbus did the same with the Beluga XL, which is based on the A330-200. The latter would be the largest transport aircraft ever built by volume (but the Dreamlifter has a larger payload as does the Antonov An-225). The A350 would eventually make its first flight on June 14th, 2013. It took off at 10 am from Toulouse on a 4 hr 30 min flight reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet. Eventually the type would be certified by the EASA in September 2014 after 2,500 test flight hours in all types of conditions. The launch customer would be Qatar Airways making its first revenue flight on January 18th, 2015 from Doha to Frankfurt. But the design process would hit a hiccup. The proposed A350-800 was cancelled in 2014 so Airbus could make the A330neo series instead. So now Airbus is focused on two variants, the 900 and 1000.
Variants
A350-900
As previously mentioned, the A350-900 entered service in January 2015 with Qatar Airways. This would eventually be the most common variant of the type with over 800 orders with 450+ aircraft delivered. The largest operator of the type and the A350 in general is Singapore Airlines with 63 in service. But they have multiple “sub-variants” of the type. There’s a medium haul variant that has no crew rest areas, no premium economy and higher-density Business Class seats that can carry 300 passengers. Singapore has 24 of these de-rated A350s. The carrier would use this aircraft along with their 787-10s to fly to regional areas in the Pacific such as Vietnam, Australia or Indonesia. The airline has 31 of the traditional A350-900s dubbed “long haul” and they would use these planes to fly to US cities on the West Coast and carry up to 253 passengers in a three-class configuration. However, there’s another variant that’s unique to Singapore and that’s the A350-900ULR. This is an “ultra long range” variant that’s designed to fly from Singapore to New York. This variant has no economy class and just offers Business Class and Premium Economy thus carrying only 161 passengers. Other airlines that ordered the A350-900 are Delta Airlines (the only US carrier of the type), Asiana, Cathay Pacific and Air France/KLM.
A350-1000
The A350-1000 is the largest variant of the A350 series which made its first flight in November 2016 and was certified by the EASA one year later. And just like the A350-900, Qatar Airways was the launch customer taking their first aircraft in February 2018. This plane would introduce the world to Qatar Airways’ Q-Suite Business Class product that would change the game for premium travel.
But Qatar isn't the only airline to upgrade their premium offerings. Airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic would order these aircraft to replace quadjets such as the Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A340-600. And just like Qatar, both airlines would introduce new premium hard products. Virgin introduced “The Loft” which is a lounge for Upper Class passengers to relax and have a drink. On the other hand, British Airways would introduce their new “Club World” suites for Business Class travelers replacing their outdated products. But that doesn’t compare to what Qantas is planning with Project Sunrise.
Airbus worked with Qantas to create a special variant known as the A350-1000ULR that would fly directly from Sydney to London or New York. You can read more about this here. But to keep it short, the type will also have a four-class configuration as well as a wellness area for economy class passengers. This flight will hopefully be launched as soon as 2025. Other carriers that ordered the type are Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Philippine Airlines, and Air India. I even heard from an unnamed resource that Delta Airlines are considering purchasing this variant in the near future as well. However it has its critics. Sir Tim Clark of Emirates doesn’t want to buy the plane because the Rolls-Royce engines powering the type don’t fit their needs. For more on that, check out my Dubai Airshow recap.
A350F
In the summer of 2021, Airbus announced the A350F for cargo carriers to replace older cargo jets such as the 747-400F. As of today, 35 orders for the type were received and it’s projected to enter service in 2026. While Boeing does have a firm grasp on the cargo market, Airbus feels like the A350F can close the gap. Recently, Cathay Pacific is considering adding the A350F over the Boeing 777-8F. Time will tell if they move forward with this order. So watch this space for future updates!
Conclusion
In summary, the A350 is a revolutionary design that is changing the game for aviation as we head deeper into the 21st century. Due to the plane being in the sweet spot when it comes to its size as well as its composite materials, it will be as ubiquitous as the 747 back in the day. But what do you guys think? Is the A350 great or is it overrated? Be sure to let me know in the comments below and keep looking to the sky!
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