30 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
Aerospace Cabin Branch chief
executive Christophe Bernardini said
in a statement.
The head of Airbus cabin and
cargo program Geoff Pinner said the
feedback from several airlines to the
first mockups had been very positive.
“This approach to commercial
air travel is a step change towards
passenger comfort,” Pinner said.
Boeing’s 777-8X design almost set
Boeing says it is close to finalising the
design work on the 777-8X long-range
widebody that will be its contender for
Qantas’s Project Sunrise challenge.
The 777-8X, and larger 777-9X,
feature new General Electric
GE9X-105B1A engines capable
of delivering 105,000lb of thrust,
new composite wings with folding
wingtips to maintain its Code E
rating at airports, as well as in-cabin
enhancements such as larger overhead
stowage and a wider cross-section.
While the 777-8X is still in
development and yet to reach firm
configuration, the Boeing website
lists the aircraft as having a range of
8,700nm and a passenger capacity of
350-375 passengers. The aircraft is
expected to enter service in 2022.
However, the final specifications
will only be known after further
development of the aircraft design and
an analysis of its engine performance.
The GE9X engine began flight testing
on General Electric’s flying testbed in
late 2017.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes
senior managing director for
marketing analysis and sales support
Darren Hulst said the program was
“very close” to finalising the design
specifications for the 777-8X.
“I mean, we are kind of finalising
the design weights and those things
but it is pretty close to being firm,”
Hulst told reporters on the sidelines of
the IATA AGM on June 3.
“We are really happy and
encouraged by the pace of
development to this point in terms
of the schedule, in terms of the
technology, in terms of the progress.”Airbus mulls development of second
ultra long range A350 variant
Airbus is putting forward its
A350-900ULR – the same one SIA
is using for its Singapore-New York
nonstop – for Project Sunrise.
While the airframer’s chief
commercial officer Eric Schulz
acknowledged the A350-900ULR
of today was not quite up to meeting
Qantas’s needs, there was workthat could be done to improve the
performance of the aircraft.
“The advantage we have is that
we have an A350-900ULR ultra
long-range which is already flying with
Singapore Airlines doing Singapore to
the US which is quite similar in terms
of trip and operational challenges,”
Schulz told reporters on the sidelines
of the IATA AGM on June 4.
“The aircraft does a little bit less
than what Project Sunrise will require
but we know how to drive this.
“We have other developments
within Airbus that we will bring to the
table at the time.”
One of those developments could
be an ultra long-range variant of the
larger A350-1000 widebody.
“This is the flexibility we have,”
Schulz said.
“The 900 and 1000 are very similar
airplanes, they have just the capacity
changes so whatever we have beenAirbus and Zodiac Aerospace
are partnering to develop and
market passenger berths that
would fit inside the A350’s
freight holds.AIRBUSThe A350-1000 arrives in
Sydney during its recent
Australian visit.LANCE BROAD