Boeing wins this round in bout with Airbus
The aircraft that is set to steal the show is a Boeing, the 777-X.
OPINION: The aviation business is tough. On the one side are the airlines competing for passengers, on the other there are the aeroplane manufacturers who have to risk hundreds of millions of dollars designing and building aircraft they hope will attract the airlines.
The process of testing and certification of an aircraft today is rigorous and ensures that any airliner that makes it to the market place will be extremely safe. The competition between the manufacturers centres around cost and environmental factors such as pollution and noise.
Nowhere has the brutal nature of this business come more to the fore than in the current status of the biggest passenger plane in the world, the double decker Airbus A380 Superjumbo.
Airbus is a European multinational aircraft manufacturer and was on the brink of formally announcing the closure of its A-380 assembly plant in Toulouse, France, due to poor sales. That position changed suddenly on Friday 19th January when Emirates Airlines stunned the aviation world with a US$16 billion order for 34 A-380 aircraft.
This has saved the A-380. Reuters news agency reported that Airbus’s chief executive stated that closure of the A-380 facility would have been ‘‘emotionally expensive’’ for the company. Even so, analysts say Airbus will be lucky to break even on the A-380 production.
The deal makes the Emirates A-380 fleet the largest in the world by far; they currently operate 100 A-380s and have 40 on order plus 34 in this new order.
Airbus’s A-380 Superjumbo is a superb piece of engineering - the problem is that compared with the up-coming competition it is expensive to buy and operate.
Many airlines run their A-380 fleet at a loss.
It shocked the aviation world when Singapore Airlines recently announced that they had taken one of their A-380 jets, only 10 years old, out of service. By modern civil aircraft standards, this is very young.
The Singapore Airways A-380 is likely to be stripped for spare parts then scrapped. Another surprise was the announcement from Malaysian Airlines that they will cease all their A380 flights by April 2018 and put the six A-380s in their fleet up for sale or lease.
Given that most other airlines are shying away from the A-380 it has left airline bosses wondering how Emirates can economically operate so vast a fleet and raises the question, is the airline being heavily subsidised by their government – an accusation that has been strenuously denied by Emirates management.
Airbus are not beaten yet. They have their new A350 jet in several versions. Nevertheless, the aircraft that is set to steal the show is a Boeing, the 777-X; there are three versions, 777-8X, -9X and -10X. The 777-10X version will carry 450 passengers, consume 12 per cent less fuel per passenger and emit 12 per cent less carbon dioxide than existing jets.
All 777-X versions will have two 3.5 metre wingtips that fold into the vertical position before the aircraft is parked at the passenger bridge. Prior to take-off these wingtips unfold to the horizontal position, extending the wing surface for flight.
The good news is that Air New Zealand currently operate 15 Boeing 777 jets (the 200 and 300 versions) and have a wealth of experience with this aircraft. Although no announcement has been made by Air New Zealand to date, should they buy the 777-X, the folding wingtip means this aircraft can be parked in the same space and use the same ground equipment as their Boeing 777 jets.
Airbus are planning an extended version of their A350 jet called the A350-1000 to compete with the Boeings but Airbus received unwelcome news when Emirates Airlines in 2013, announced a massive $76 billion order for 150 Boeing 777-X aircraft, one of the largest civil aviation orders in history.
This was followed by an order from Qatar Airways for 60 777-Xs and Etihad, the national airline of Abu Dhabi, for 25.
Lufthansa, has fully committed to purchasing 34 and will be the first airline to fly the Boeing 777-X, entering service in 2020.
Despite the January 19 deal with Emirates for 34 A-380s, it looks like this round in the commercial battle between aircraft manufacturers has gone to Boeing.