Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Heart Aerospace’s revised ES-30, Part 3. UPDATED
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By Bjorn Fehrm
October 24, 2024, © Leeham News: We analyze Heart Aerospace’s latest evolution of the hybrid ES-30. The latest version, presented in spring 2024, is a parallel hybrid, putting gas turbine turboprop engines outside the electric motor engines.
After examining what such a parallel hybrid system means for aircraft dimensions and masses, we now fly the aircraft on a typical US short-haul route through our Aircraft Performance and Cost Model (APCM) to assess its operational performance.
Does the ES-30 make operational sense for an airline that needs a short-haul feeder?
Summary:
- The parallel hybrid architecture gives the ES-30 certain operational flexibility to fly routes over 100nm, making it possible to replace present 30 seaters on such short routes.
- However, the operational costs are considerably higher than today’s 30-seaters. As always, the problem is the battery costs.
- UPDATE: Heart Aerospace contacted us after the article was published. The article has been complemented with their information.
Heart Aerospace’s revised ES-30, Part 2
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By Bjorn Fehrm
October 17, 2024, © Leeham News: We analyze Heart Aerospace’s latest evolution of the hybrid ES-30 (bottom aircraft in the picture), which replaces the original battery-based 19-seater (top aircraft) and the original ES-30 (mid aircraft).
The latest version, presented in spring 2024, is a parallel hybrid, putting gas turbine turboprop engines outside the electric motors. What are the advantages of the parallel hybrid version, and will it make the Heart ES-30 project more likely to succeed?
We use our Aircraft Performance and Cost Model (APCM) to understand the design choices and the costs involved.
Summary:
- The latest revision of the Heart Aerospace hybrid electric aircraft, the ES-30, takes the hybrid architecture from a serial to a parallel system. It simplifies the architecture.
- Does the revised ES-30 make airline operational sense? We analyze this using our Aircraft Performance and Cost Model.
The all-important cabin. Part 4
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By Bjorn Fehrm
June 20, 2024, © Leeham News: We do an article series about the all-important cabin for an airliner. We have looked at different airliners and their cabins and how the seating differs widely depending on what market and customer segments the aircraft addresses.
If an aircraft is configured for the domestic market the seating increases by almost 50% compared with an international long-range aircraft.
We now look at what cabins to use for aircraft economic evaluations. These are not necessarily the same cabins that an airline would later use after selecting an airliner type.
Summary:
- The evaluation cabin must not be the same as the cabins the airline plans to use.
- Evaluation cabins are designed to minimize the skew that OEMs can introduce by making cabin rules fit “their” candidate especially well.
Airbus’ A350-1000 or Boeing’s 777-9?
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By Bjorn Fehrm
April 4, 2024, © Leeham News: Korean Air confirmed an order for 33 Airbus A350 in the week, 27 of which are the larger A350-1000. The order is significant on two accounts:
First, 27 A350-1000 and only 6 A350-900, where analysts have for years asked why the -1000 isn’t selling.
Secondly, for a carrier that has a rather 50-50 fleet of Airbus and Boeing planes, its large widebody was the Boeing 777-300ER, whereof it has 27 out of 37 Boeing 777 in total. Korean Air now chooses the A350-1000 to replace the 777-300ER. Why not the 777-9?
Was this a question of availability (the 777-9 should have been delivered in 2020 but has had several delays; the present plan says 2025), or was there a technical-economic reason for Korean Air’s decision? We examine the characteristics of the two planes to find the answers.
Summary:
- The Boeing 777-300ER was an exceptionally successful stretch of the original 777-200. The 777-9 is the sequel to the 777-300ER.
- The market did not like the original A350-1000. Therefore, the present -1000 is a reconfigured aircraft compared to the original variant.
When does a larger airliner pay off? Part 3
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By Bjorn Fehrm
March 21, 2024, © Leeham News: We are doing an article series about what drove the cross-over from Airbus A319 to A320 and then to A321. We started with the ceo range last week. We could see why the A320 was a better choice than an A319, with only a few more passengers per departure required to close the operating cost difference for a route, whereas the A321, being a larger jump in capacity, did not have the same per seat mile economics until traffic increased substantially.
Now we study the change to the neo generation and try to understand why the A319, a popular model as a ceo variant, did not sell at all as a neo.
Summary:
- The A319ceo had a suitable capacity for routes before 2015. It also had a passenger mile cost advantage over the A320 for thinner routes.
- After 2016, when the A320neo entered the market, the A319neo didn’t sell at all, despite the continued existence of thin routes. We explain why.
When does a larger airliner pay off? Part 2
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By Bjorn Fehrm
March 14, 2024, © Leeham News: We are doing an article series about what drove the cross-over from Airbus A319 to A320 and then to A321. We start with the ceo range to understand at what passenger numbers did a route support the A319 versus the A320 and A321.
The same change in airliner size happened for the Boeing 737, but we will limit the investigation to the Airbus range as the modern variants, 737 MAX 7 and 10, are not yet in service.
We will use our Airliner Performance and Cost Model (APCM) to model typical sectors and see at what load factors the economics favor a switch.
Figure 1. The Airbus A320ceo with it’s characteristic wing fences. Source: Airbus.
Summary:
- We develop the Passenger Mile Costs for the different A320ceo variants, A319, A320 and A321.
- Then, we gradually lower the number of passengers transported on the A320 and A321 until we have the same Passenger Mile Costs for all variants. This shows how many more passengers a route must support to motivate a switch to a larger model.
Bjorn’ s Corner: New aircraft technologies. Part 45. Continued Airworthiness
By Bjorn Fehrm
January 12, 2024, ©. Leeham News: We are discussing the different phases of a new airliner program. After covering the Design and Production, we now look at the Operational phase of a new airliner family.
For the operational phase, the airplane must pass scrutiny for Continued Airworthiness. Today, we discuss the different means available to the Regulator, such as Airworthiness Directives ( ADs) and System Bulletins (SBs) to the OEM to make sure any detected issues get noticed and corrected.
Figure 1. The Boeing MAX 9 Door Plug Emergency AD issued last week. Source: FAA.
Outlook 2024: European airline consolidation
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By Gordon Smith
January 3, 2024, © Leeham News: Consolidation is certainly in the air. Even before the shock announcement on December 3 that Hawaiian and Alaska are planning to tie the knot, the industry was gripped by the ‘will-they, won’t they’ saga of the proposed JetBlue and Spirit deal.
Although it’s US carriers that have been making headlines, the European airline market is experiencing its own flurry of mergers and acquisitions. This is a topic LNA covered at length pre-pandemic (Our backgrounder is available here).
At the time of this writing, big changes are happening at three of the continent’s best-known flag carriers. Significant shareholdings in ITA Airways (formerly Alitalia), TAP Air Portugal, and SAS Scandinavian Airlines are changing hands, with Europe’s aviation supergroups spying an opportunity to expand their respective empires.
Tapping into the latest data provided to LNA from aviation data analysts Cirium, we can get a better understanding of what these changes could mean for existing fleets and upcoming airliner deliveries.
Bjorn’ s Corner: New aircraft technologies. Part 43. Delivery
By Bjorn Fehrm
December 22, 2023, ©. Leeham News: We are discussing the different phases of a new airliner program. After covering the Design, Prototype phase, and Production, we now look at the first deliveries.
After about seven to nine years of development and production preparation, it’s finally time for the first delivery of the new aircraft.
Figure 1. The development plan for a new airliner. Source: Leeham Co.
Boeing beats Airbus in order tallies at Dubai Airshow thanks to widebody jetliner demand
By Dan Catchpole
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Nov. 20, 2023 © Leeham News: Boeing dominated the Dubai Airshow, racking up 313 orders—232 firm and 81 non-firm. Meanwhile, Airbus garnered only 86 orders, as of Friday, the last day of the biennial airshow.
Credit: Boeing
It was the first time that American aerospace giant has beaten its European competitor at Dubai since 2017. Heavy demand for twin-aisle aircraft helped Boeing land more orders.
A much anticipated mega order by Turkish Airlines for Airbus jetliners didn’t materialize. However, both entities said they plan to announce a significant order in the future.
Summary
- Widebody orders lead narrowbody orders
- Resurgent international travel demand drive order split
- Performance problems soften demand for Airbus A350