Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
- Bjorn’s Corner: Air Transport’s route to 2050. Part 19. April 25, 2025
- How good is the C929? Part 2. April 24, 2025
- Boeing First Quarter Results Update: China is 10% of the backlog, with 500 in “Unidentified” April 24, 2025
- Boeing First Quarter Results: Tariffs, Return flights, $10.55bn asset sale April 23, 2025
- RTX Q1 2025 Earnings: GTF Talk Takes A Back Seat To Tariffs April 22, 2025
Russian-Chinese wide-body: The aircraft
By Bjorn Fehrm
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Introduction
August29, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: We have now covered the capabilities of the joint venture partners for a Russian-Chinese wide-body and its possible market. Now we will look at what kind of aircraft such a cooperation can create, given technology and other constraints.
Figure 1. Concept for new wide-body airliner. Source: United Aircraft.
There have been bits and pieces leaked to media from Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC).
We will look at what has been said and combine that with our knowledge of existing and future technological capabilities of the parties to make predictions for what aircraft the project can produce.
Summary:
- The Russian-Chinese wide-bodywill be made to cover the “small wide-body”market.
- Initial size will be a 250-280 passenger wide-body
- The aircraft will be a twin with engines from either GE or Rolls-Royce.
- Range with 280 passengers will be 6,500nm.
Rolls Royce, Microsoft and Singapore Airlines: Time to analyze all that data
By Bjorn Fehrm
Introduction
July 12, 2016, ©. Leeham Co. Farnborough Air Show: Rolls Royce announced a strategic agreement for big Data analysis with Microsoft at yesterday’s Farnborough Air show. Rolls-Royce for years has been monitoring the health of their operational engines run under TotaICare services agreements. This monitoring has been performed on rather modest data samples from the aircraft’s engines.
It is now time to analyze all the information available from the engines and the airframe to gain further operational advantages like lower fuel burn, higher in service reliability or lower maintenance costs. We are then talking about data volumes in another ball-park than what has been captured and analyzed under TotalCare so far.
Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 with Rolls-Royce engines. Source: Airbus
“Engine data monitoring has primarily been done up until now to ensure reliable operation and to recognize developing problems in their infancy,” says Rolls-Royce Senior Vice President Service Tom Palmer. “With the help of Microsoft and their world wide Azure cloud computing platform, we can now take engine and airframe operations analysis to the next level. This will ensure that we further reduce our customers fuel consumption and provide them with a more cost effective maintenance program. We will take the digitization of engine and aircraft operations to the next level.” Read more
Farnborough Air Show preview: expectations and possible surprises
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Introduction
July 4, 2016, © Leeham Co: The Farnborough Air Show begins next Monday and predictably, focus will be on orders.
With new airplanes from Airbus and Boeing past their development stages, conventional wisdom says there won’t be much new in this arena.
Don’t be so sure.
Bombardier is now on an upward trajectory, but don’t look for a big splash at #FIA16 (for those looking for this year’s Twitter handle). Embraer will have its E190-E2 at the show.
It’s Boeing’s 100th Anniversary and the company is rolling out the history for the show.
Summary
- No new products from Airbus.
- Boeing may have a surprise.
- Low number of orders anticipated.
Airbus increases A350-900 range to 8,100nm
By Bjorn Fehrm
Introduction
March 30, 2016, ©. Leeham Co: Airbus has changed the A350-900 website data to now show the 280t Max Take-Off Weight (MTOW) as the standard MTOW. This weight variant was only reserved for the A350-900ULR before, but is not available for customers buying a standard A350-900 as of 2020.
Airbus A350-900 at the time of the roll-out of the first test aircraft. MTOW was then 268t. Source: Airbus
Three years after the rollout in May 2013 (photo), after ground and flight tests, the company can raise the MTOW of the aircraft to regain range that was gradually lost during the development of the aircraft, even adding range on top of what was originally promised. Read more
Airbus exploring higher capacity A350
By Bjorn Fehrm
23 March 2016, ©. Leeham Co: Airbus is showing a select group of airlines a stretched version of the A350-1000. The idea is to get enough feedback from potential customers so that a decision to go ahead or not can be made during the summer. Airbus COO customers, John Leahy, told LNC at the ISTAT conference earlier this month that an announcement could be made at the Farnborough Air Show in July. Other sources say it might take longer.
We have covered the possibility to extend the A350-1000 to a longer 400 seater version in several articles over the years. The key question for Airbus is how large is the market for a dual aisle twin with 400 seats and has Boeing already covered a large part of that market with its 777-9?
What has changed now it that the A350-1000 is taking form on the Airbus Toulouse Final Assembly Lone (FAL) and Airbus can now see that the A350-1000 will hit its performance and weight numbers. Airbus also has a lot of learning from the A350-900 which makes it confident that an A350-1000 stretch can be made with rather small changes.
Bjorn’s Corner: Engine architectures
4 March 2016, ©. Leeham Co: There is a saying, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” The same goes for making successful Turbofans to commercial aircraft.
At the recent Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance 2016 sub-supplier conference in Seattle, GE, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney all talked about their latest engine projects and the technology development that was critical to their success.
The engines they talked about, the GE9x, Rolls-Royce Advance and Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan, can all be characterised as the best of breed for their intended use but they could not be more different in how their level of excellence is achieved.
It made for interesting listening. Here’s the gist of what was told.
ISTAT Day 1: Engine updates for CFM, GE, RR and PW
Feb. 29, 2016, (c) Leeham Co.: The LEAP engine, for the Boeing 737 MAX, Airbus 
A320neo and COMAC C919 is the fastest-selling engine in history, says Jean-Paul Ebanga, the president of CFM International. More than 10,000 have been sold.
- We’re at the 2016 ISTAT AGM in Phoenix and will be reporting today and tomorrow on presentations and news from the sidelines.
“It’s on-time and on-spec,” Ebanga said. It’s either been on the date set four years ago or ahead of schedule. The engines delivered to Airbus for the A320neo are on spec, he said. It’s been certified for the neo and will be certified soon for the MAX, with 90% of the information submitted.
ISTAT Day 1: Used 777 values depend on engines, leases
Feb. 29, 2016 (c) Leeham Co.: The Boeing 777-200ER is not worth $7.7m or even $10m, but $37m to $47m, according to four appraisers who appeared today at the ISTAT AGM.
- We’re at the 2016 ISTAT AGM in Phoenix and will be reporting today and tomorrow on presentations and news from the sidelines.
Doug Kelly of the consulting/appraisal firm Avitas notes that the Rolls-Royce Trent-powered 777s are, indeed, the least desirable airplanes. GE or PW-powered airplanes commands a $7m premium, he said.
AerCap is selling 777-200ERs with leases attached for more than $50m, Kelly said.
PNAA Day 2: Cautionary note raised
- Feb. 10, 2016: Today is the second of three days of conference meetings organized by
the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance (PNAA), in Lynnwood (WA). We’re providing live reporting throughout the three days.
Feb. 10, 2016: Large commercial aircraft deliveries hit just under $104bn in 2015, a 4.9% gain over 2014. Regional aircraft values, however, were just $7.1bn, a decline of 10.5% year-over-year, said Richard Aboulafia, a consultant with the Teal Group.
Deliveries of all aircraft types, including military, rotocraft, etc., saw only a 0.6% increase YOY. Jetliners account for 60% of the total values.