COMMERCIAL WIDEBODY AIRLINERS
68 | http://www.airinternational.com900s to equip its AirAsia X long-haul unit,
the group’s Chief Executive Tony Fernandes
indicated earlier this year the 787-10 could be
an option to add more capacity alongside its
A330-300s and forthcoming A330-900neos.
Another low-cost carrier in the Asia-Pacific
region, IndiGo, has meanwhile indicated it
wants to move into the long-haul arena and
one recent report has said it could be close to
a deal for around 50 widebodies.
Elsewhere, the chief executive of Saudi
carrier Flynas was recently quoted as
saying the airline is considering a long-haul
operation, while Aerolíneas Argentinas last
year expressed plans to introduce new
widebodies by the mid-2020s to supersede its
A330s and A340s.‘Big twins’
In the 350-400 seats category occupied
by the 777-300ER and A350-1000, aircraft
sometimes called the ‘big twins’, Boeing hit a
sweet spot with the 777-300ER introduced in- Up to June, it had sold 841 examples.
Teal’s analysis says: “The 777 is the big
winner of the long-agonised-over mini-
jumbo competition... The 777 orderbook
includes nearly all the most important airlines
in the world and is much firmer than the
competition’s. You could say that [an airline]
without a 777 is not a serious player.”
Despite the 777-300ER’s popularity Airbus
says the A350-1000 beats it, claiming its
aircraft offers 25% reductions in fuel burn,
emissions and operating costs. Former Airbus
Chief Operating Officer Customers John
Leahy said earlier this year shortly before
leaving the role: “This is the aircraft that’s
going to be the 777-300ER of the future.”
Airbus had sold only 168 A350-1000s by
early June, but sales of the next-generation
777-8, the 777X variant optimised for 350-
400 seats and therefore the 777-300ER’s
successor in Boeing’s product range, were
fewer, with just 53 orders by the same point- all to the big three Gulf carriers, Emirates,
Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.
Sales totals for aircraft in the category for
the largest passenger aircraft, those with more
than 400 seats, are even lower. Only 331
A380s have been sold in 18 years and business
has been thin for the 747-8 Intercontinental,
with 51 sold. The 777-9, the new 777X variant
optimised for more than 400 seats, has done
better than the 777-8 but has still only picked
up 326 sales in its five years on the market.
Richard Aboulafia, Vice-President Analysis at
the Teal Group, told AIR International: “All these
aircraft are victims of ongoing airline route
fragmentation, which is keeping the average
size of a twin-aisle jet at around 300 seats. The
787 and A350-900 are doing fine; all larger
aircraft are fighting for a thin trickle of orders.
“Given that context, it’s hard to see who has
the superior product or who is in the lead [in
the segment]. The 777X family certainly has
more orders, but it’s also more dependent
on the Gulf carriers, who are not in great
shape. Then again, the A350-1000 order book
includes several dozen Iranian orders, which
are now certainly at risk.”
A key reason why sales of aircraft with
higher seat capacities are thinner than for the
market segments served by the A330/787
“Route
fragmentation
is keeping the
average size of
a twin-aisle at
300 seats.”
MAIN PICTURE: TAP Portugal will introduce the A330-
900neo, CS-TUA (msn 1819), this year. Airbus has sold 214
A330neo family aircraft so far. H Goussé/Airbus