By Bjorn Fehrm
Introduction
May 6, 2015, c. Leeham Co. Qatar Airways, as the first operator of the Airbus A350, now has four months of experience of the new twin aisle aircraft. As we have described in Bjorn’s Corner two weeks ago, the introduction has gone well, without major incidents.
Qatar Airways’ A350 stretching its wings. Source: Airbus.
The first destination was Doha-Frankfurt, to be followed by Doha-Singapore on June 1. Both destinations are mid-range, with flying times of six to eight hours. These can be seen as introductory rotations, close to Qatar’s base should replacement aircraft or maintenance actions be needed.
With the first period in the bag, Qatar now feels confident enough to announce how they will take the A350 to its true job types. Here the relevant parts of what Qatar Airways announced Tuesday this week:
“Increasing passenger demand to America’s largest city and financial centre, New York, has prompted Qatar Airways to add a second daily service to the city from 1st March 2016. Qatar Airways has served the city daily since the initial route launch in 2007. The second daily service to New York’s JFK will be operated by the Airbus A350 XWB aircraft providing passengers an opportunity to experience both the Boeing B777 and the A350 aircraft types on the route.
“ From 16th March, 2016, the airline will launch daily flights to Boston, the capital and largest city of Massachusetts, and will operate its latest flagship A350 XWB in a two-class configuration with 36 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, featuring an 80” fully flat bed and 17” HD in-flight entertainment screen.”
This is more challenging work for an A350 and we will therefore take a first look into what Qatar can expect in terms of overall aircraft performance on such destinations come spring next year. Read more
Bjorn’s Corner: Flying the Airbus A350
By Bjorn Fehrm
Introduction
22 May 2015, C. Leeham Co: As one of four aeronautical media companies we were asked by Airbus if we wanted to test fly the A350 end of January this year. Airbus was arranging for Media test pilots to come and fly the A350 and we had asked for sampling the A350 through its simulator. Airbus returned with the question if I did not want to try the real thing. They did not have to ask twice!
It was all in the preliminary planning stage at the time but come March things got concrete. I should come to Toulouse on April 22 for a full day in the simulator and then the aircraft. As I did not have previous airline flying experience (mainly military fighters and business aircraft), I started training on the rather different system approach that a civil airliner has to a military fighter for Autopilot and Autothrust. I described this training in a previous Bjorn’s Corner. Publication of this story was embargoed by Airbus to May 22.
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35 Comments
Posted on May 21, 2015 by Bjorn Fehrm
Airbus, Bjorn's Corner, Leeham News and Comment
A350, A350-900, Airbus, Bjorn's Corner
Analysis: First phase of A350 production
By Bjorn Fehrm
Subscription required
Introduction
May 20, 2015, c. Leeham Co. The 27th Airbus A350 has started its journey in the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse and one can do a first analysis of how the initial batch of A350s has fared on the final production line. For this purpose, we have been closely monitoring the through-flow times for each of the nine steps that constitute the final assembly of the A350.
Summary
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Posted on May 20, 2015 by Bjorn Fehrm
Airbus, Premium
A350, A350 XWB, Airbus
Open Letter to Members of Congress on ExIm
To Members of the US Congress:
There will be a vote soon on whether to reauthorize the US ExIm Bank. You should do so.
Arguments by some that this is a form of corporate welfare are unfounded. Suggestions that ExIm Bank merely supports The Boeing Co. are misguided.
To be sure, Boeing airplanes received the majority of ExIm Bank commitments and guarantees. This is because Boeing makes the most expensive things ExIm supports. But plenty of small businesses benefit from ExIm as well.
Supporting ExIm for Boeing airplanes creates jobs in America. LionAir of Indonesia ordered hundreds of Boeing 737s. ExIm Bank support was pledged to support this order. LionAir also ordered hundred of Airbus A320s. If ExIm weren’t supporting the 737s, it’s a fair conclusion LionAir would have ordered more A320s instead of Boeing. Why? Airbus gets active support from the ExIm’s equivalent agencies in Europe.
LionAir is but one such example.
Boeing is one of the top exporters (if not the top) of US products. These exports help the US balance of trade.
If ExIm is not reauthorized, Airbus will have an international advantage over Boeing. My market intelligence tells me that Airbus has already used the ambiguity over ExIm’s reauthorization in sales campaigns against Boeing.
If there are specific problems with how ExIm is administered, fix them, but don’t kill the program that has been around–and successfully supporting American businesses–for decades.
ExIm returns a profit to the US Treasury with its fees and other charges supporting its work. How many government programs can say this?
Stop playing games with and holding hostage ExIm Bank. It’s time to grant long-term reauthorization.
Very truly yours,
Scott Hamilton
Editor
Leeham News and Comment
28 Comments
Posted on May 20, 2015 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Boeing
737, A320, Airbus, Boeing, ExIm Bank
Dissecting the United A319 deal: implications
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Introduction
May 19, 2015, c. Leeham Co. United Airlines and mega-lessor AerCap announced last week UAL will lease up to 25 Airbus A319s, with deliveries from 2016-2021. The aircraft are currently leased to China Southern Airlines. These are powered by the International Aero Engines V2500, the same engine that powers UAL’s current fleet of A319s and A320s.
UAL said it will use the A319s to replace 70-seat regional jets, freeing these to shift into 50-seat RJ markets. This represents a general up-gauging at the lower end of United’s fleet.
There are also more implications to this transaction.
Summary
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1 Comment
Posted on May 19, 2015 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Airlines, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, Premium
737-700, A319, A320, AerCap, Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, China Southern Airlines, CRJ, CRJ-500, CS300, CSeries, E-145, E-175, E-Jet, Emrbaer, United Airlines
Pontifications: Boeing spin
By Scott Hamilton
May 18, 2015: Boeing has always been masterful with spinning its message, but the spin last week strains credibility with its explanation over how it will bridge the production gap for the 777 Classic into production of the 777X.
Leeham News last week examined Boeing’s detailed explanation, emerging from its May 12 investors day. Reports from aerospace analysts recounted Boeing’s assertion that when “feathering” in 777X production on the 777 Classic, because production of the X will be slow (normal for a new model and the ramp-up/learning curve), the X will be the equivalent of producing two or three Classics–and thus today’s production rate of 8.3/mo (100/yr) will be preserved, as claimed from the launch of the X program.
Poppycock. Read more
133 Comments
Posted on May 18, 2015 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Boeing
737, 737-9, 737-900ER, 747-8I, 777, 777 Classic, 777X, 787, A320, A321, A350-1000, A350-800, A380, Airbus, Boeing, WTO
Bjorn’s Corner: China’s civil aviation, from nothing to world’s largest in 2030
Introduction
By Bjorn Fehrm
14 May 2015, C. Leeham Co: In my ISTAT Asia reports, I wrote about how China will overtake USA as largest civil aviation market in 2030. Airbus China Group chairman, Laurence Barron, and I had a chat after his ISTAT presentation where he described China’s evolution as a civil aviation market and how Airbus gradually worked itself from a late and hesitant start to today’s split of the market with Boeing.
Barron provided his slides, some of which we will use to review how China grew from virtually no civil aviation after the Chinese revolution in 1949 to the world’s largest market by 2030. We will also look at what aircraft have made up this growth and finally describe how Airbus progressed from a latecomer in 1985 to sharing the market with Boeing today.
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19 Comments
Posted on May 14, 2015 by Bjorn Fehrm
Airbus, Airlines, Bjorn's Corner, Boeing, China, Douglas Aircraft Co, Leeham News and Comment, McDonnell Douglas
707, A310, Airbus, Boeing, EADS
ISTAT Asia day two: home for the elderly
Introduction
May 12, 2015, c. Leeham Co: As you would have guessed we are talking Asian civil airliners, where planning in the region for the fast growing older generations is inadequate. This was the subject of several sessions during day two of the ISTAT Asia (International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading) conference in Singapore.
The problem is new, as up to now a newly established airline fleet in Asia has not had any numbers of older aircraft. But the expansion over the last 20 years is now producing the first transition waves of aircraft and the planning around the problems this generates is inadequate.
The result will be surprising write-downs of airline assets as aircraft being replaced cannot be transitioned out at booked residual values. The scale of the problem was highlighted by a survey of the 500 gathered ISTAT industry experts. The question posed to them was “There are 4700 aircraft coming up for replacement until 2033, has Asian airlines planned adequately for this?”:
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5 Comments
Posted on May 12, 2015 by Bjorn Fehrm
Airbus, Airlines, Boeing, China, ISTAT, Leasing, Rolls-Royce
777, A330, Airbus, Boeing
ISTAT Asia: Asian airline market update
Introduction
May 11, 2015, c. Leeham Co: We are participating this week in the ISTAT Asia conference in Singapore where IATA and different panels gave an interesting update on the Asian airline market. This is the fifth year that an ISTAT (International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading) conference is held in Asia and participation has virtually doubled from last year to 500 delegates.
IATA’s Conrad Clifford opened the event with the following overview about the Asian market for airline passenger travel:
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8 Comments
Posted on May 11, 2015 by Bjorn Fehrm
Airbus, Airlines, Boeing, Bombardier, China, Comac, Embraer, ISTAT, Leasing, Mitsubishi
Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Comac, Embraer, Mitsubishi
Paris Air Show: Boeing
Subscription required.
Second in a Series of Previews for the Paris Air Show.
Introduction
May 10, 2015, c. Leeham Co. Don’t expect Boeing to come away from the Paris Air Show next month with a ton of orders. It never does; this is Airbus’ home turf.
Although Boeing has said over and over and over again that it doesn’t hold back orders to announce at air shows, the fact is that it does, both for its own public
relations value and at the behest of customers. Is this as aggressive as Airbus? No, but we know from talking with customers and with
Boeing’s own personnel that Boeing is just as aware of the air show PR value as is Airbus.
That being said, what can we expect from Boeing at the air show? A little bit here. A little bit there. But not a whole lot. The order cycle has flattened (though it’s certainly not collapsed) and the wide-body campaigns that are underway probably won’t be ready for Paris.
Summary
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Posted on May 10, 2015 by Scott Hamilton
Airbus, Boeing, Paris Air Show, Premium
737, 737 MAX 200, 747-8, 777 Classic, 777X, 787, A320NEO, A320neo 195, Airbus, Boeing, Middle of the Market, Paris Air Show, Turkish Airlines, Wizzair
Airbus A350 start stretching its wings
By Bjorn Fehrm
Introduction
May 6, 2015, c. Leeham Co. Qatar Airways, as the first operator of the Airbus A350, now has four months of experience of the new twin aisle aircraft. As we have described in Bjorn’s Corner two weeks ago, the introduction has gone well, without major incidents.
Qatar Airways’ A350 stretching its wings. Source: Airbus.
The first destination was Doha-Frankfurt, to be followed by Doha-Singapore on June 1. Both destinations are mid-range, with flying times of six to eight hours. These can be seen as introductory rotations, close to Qatar’s base should replacement aircraft or maintenance actions be needed.
With the first period in the bag, Qatar now feels confident enough to announce how they will take the A350 to its true job types. Here the relevant parts of what Qatar Airways announced Tuesday this week:
“Increasing passenger demand to America’s largest city and financial centre, New York, has prompted Qatar Airways to add a second daily service to the city from 1st March 2016. Qatar Airways has served the city daily since the initial route launch in 2007. The second daily service to New York’s JFK will be operated by the Airbus A350 XWB aircraft providing passengers an opportunity to experience both the Boeing B777 and the A350 aircraft types on the route.
“ From 16th March, 2016, the airline will launch daily flights to Boston, the capital and largest city of Massachusetts, and will operate its latest flagship A350 XWB in a two-class configuration with 36 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, featuring an 80” fully flat bed and 17” HD in-flight entertainment screen.”
This is more challenging work for an A350 and we will therefore take a first look into what Qatar can expect in terms of overall aircraft performance on such destinations come spring next year. Read more
44 Comments
Posted on May 6, 2015 by Bjorn Fehrm
Airbus, Bjorn's Corner, Boeing, Qatar Airways
777-300ER, A330, A350, Airbus, Boeing, Qatar Airways
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