Flight International – 11 June 2019

34 | Flight International | 11-17 June 2019 flightglobal.com

PARIS

Special report

A

mid ongoing speculation about

Boeing’s plans for a clean-sheet de-

sign to address the much-vaunted

mid-market segment and the likely

response from Airbus, how are the most re-

cent all-new airliners from those airframers

performing?

Creating a new airliner from scratch these

days invariably involves an investment in ex-

cess of $10 billion, so the decision to start

with a blank slate, rather than via a derivative

update, is not to be taken lightly. But it was

just such a scenario that Boeing faced in the

early 2000s as it evaluated what it should do

to follow the then-established 777.

After toying with its transonic Sonic Cruiser

concept in the early 2000s, Boeing launched

the 787 in 2004 as an all-new design construct-

ed largely from carbonfibre. The year before, at

Le Bourget, its marketing team unveiled the

Dreamliner name after a public competition.

Airbus, distracted at that time with bring-

ing the A380 to market, had several false starts

trying to create a competitor to the 787. Hav-

ing sneered at what seemed like an outland-

ish plan from Boeing to create a Mach 0.98

airliner, suddenly, the Dreamliner – a conven-

tional design, if advanced in its systems and

structural concept – looked like a threat.

PLAYING CATCH-UP

Airbus made several abortive attempts to

counter the 787 using the A350 moniker for

what was in reality a re-engined A330, before

following its rival’s lead and launching a

clean-sheet design, the A350 XWB.

By the time the XWB emerged in 2006, the

two rivals had slightly different objectives.

MAX KINGSLEY-JONES LONDON

Lex Rayton/imageBROKER/Shutterstock

Etihad Airways

Clean-slate stakes

Airbus and Boeing launched their all-

new widebody designs within two years

of each other. We examine how the

A350 and 787 twinjets are faring so far

After Asia-Pacific,

Europe is the largest

market for both types

Etihad is one of 19 airlines that has

ordered both 787s (below) and A350s

Launched in 2004, Boeing’s offering was

an all-new carbonfibre-based design