Boeing 787-10 or 777-8x: decision Likely This Year

A potential double-stretched 787-10 variant depends more on what Boeing decides to do with the 777 more than anything else.

Not for the first time, talk about a double-stretched 787 has entered the fray only this time, Boeing’s decision to establish a dedicated development team for the 777 puts the decision making into a rather grey area. Some of this is compounded by the ever-growing uncertainty over the rival Airbus A350-1000, which thus far is failing to make the grade on paper (or sales) against the 777-300ER.

There is equally the possibility that Boeing could do both moves and squeeze the big Airbus jet – it is a poor selling model in contrast to other 777, A350 and 787 variants. For whatever its worth, there’s more chance of a 787-10 and/or enhanced 777 emerging than there is of a so-called 150 seat CSeries.

Boeing hopes to make a decision this year on the 787-10 and aims to ensure that this larger-capacity 787 avoids cannibalizing sales of the 777, another family of Boeing aircraft that also may be getting new models, the 777-8X and 777-9X. While the 777 looks more than likely to benefit from a revamp rather than a full overhaul, this is paced more with the fact that the larger A350-1000 is still undefined and program sources attribute significant issues with the baseline A350-900 that have to be ironed out first before a stretch can happen, much less meet the advertised specifications Airbus has listed. 

Boeing is loathe to grow the 787 into 777 territory – a stretch too far, and you end up with a useless airplane like the A340-600 which trades passengers and payload for range and is saddled with higher costs.

A second stretch of the 787 would also raise engine thrust issues, affecting performance. As Boeing studies its options with 777, the company feels that a lower cost approach to improving that would be far more beneficial to countering the perceived angst any A350-1000 could cause.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh said, “We will do the 787-10 by all likelihood. We’re now working through design concepts. Assuming the customer interest is there, later this year [a decision will be made], and we will have something to offer toward the end of the year.” He says the 787-10 will have a shorter range than the -9 but will be able to carry 40 more passengers, so “the economics are very good.”

The fact that the 787-10 is a stretch of the 787-9 means it will be in the realm of the 777 in terms of seating capacity. Albaugh, however, suggests otherwise. “We think we’ve got a good separation between the models. There’s 15% separation between the models. We’ve spread the sizing between them, so we don’t cannibalize any one aircraft.”

There have been some reports about a 777-8LX model, which promises more range, but Albaugh is dismissive. “I’ve seen something on a chart mentioning that, but I am focused on the 777-9X and 777-8X,” he says, referring to the new stretched version of the 777-300ER and 777-200, respectively. Albaugh was speaking to Aviation Week in Singapore yesterday during a media roundtable.

He says the 777-8X and 777-9X are hugely important to the company. Boeing sold 200 777s last year, and the aircraft is unbeatable in terms of efficiency, asserts Albaugh. But he also says Boeing is mindful of the fact that Airbus is planning the A350-1000, and declines to disclose details on the 777-9X, except to say “it will be a significant improvement over the 777-300ER.”

As for the 737 MAX, Albaugh says, “I hope we can have a couple of thousand orders before we deliver the first aircraft.” Boeing already has secured firm orders for the 737-8 and 737-9. Albaugh says it also has secured a 737-7 customer, but has yet to disclose who that is.

Albaugh declines to say when the 737 MAX specifications will be locked, but asserts they are already effectively firmed up because Boeing is giving MAX customers guarantees when it comes to the specs. He also says, “I don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver. I want to ensure that it is on spec and delivered on time.” Boeing has learned from the lessons of the 787 program, he adds.

Boeing has started delivering 787-8s, but has had to do some post-production fixes to the aircraft in response to concerns about delamination.

The entire global fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo jets are to be checked for cracks inside the wings.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) last month ordered “a detailed visual inspection”. The checks are to be extended to the entire fleet of 68 planes flying with seven different airlines, it was announced yesterday.

The EASA say they are working with Airbus on a “long-term fix” for the problem that should be ready by the summer. The decision to extend the order was made after the first set of results of inspections, but EASA say they don’t have details on how many cracks have been found in total. The checks are on the aircraft’s “wing rib feet” - the metal brackets that connect the wing’s ribs to its skin. (Graphic showing the location of the wing rib brackets in an A380 superjumbo, which are at the centre of concerns over cracking. Source: Airbus) 

The EASA’s original order came when Airbus said it had found new cracks on the brackets inside the wings of two superjumbos after inspections launched following a 2010 incident in which a Qantas A380’s engine disintegrated in flight. The agency gave airlines between four days and six weeks from January 24 to carry out checks on the initial batch of superjumbos, whose future customers include British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Under the extended order, planes that have flown fewer than 1,300 takeoff and landing cycles will have to be checked before reaching that point, and planes that have flown more will have to be inspected within three weeks. 

Airbus said it has developed repair kits for the problem, which are currently being installed, and that the aircraft remained safe to fly. “These brackets are located on wing ribs which are not main load bearing structure, and, thus, the safe operation of the aircraft is not affected. “Nearly 4,000 such brackets are used on the A380 to join the wing-skin to the ribs. Only a handful of brackets per aircraft have been found to have been affected.” EADS said.

Still, EASA in its directive said that "this condition, if not detected and corrected, could potentially affect the structural integrity of the airplane."The airworthiness directive last month applied to the 20 planes that have flown the most. EASA spokesman Dominique Fouda said the updated directive extends the checks to the entire fleet of 68, currently flying with seven different airlines."In parallel, we are working with Airbus on a long-term fix that should be ready by the summer," He said the decision to extend the order was made "given the first results" of the inspections, but said he didn't have details on how many cracks have been found in total. EASA's original Jan. 20 order came after Airbus said it had found new cracks on the brackets inside the wings of two superjumbos after inspections launched following a 2010 incident in which a Qantas A380's engine disintegrated in flight. 

The agency gave airlines between four days and six weeks from Jan. 24 to carry out checks on the initial batch of planes. Earlier Wednesday, Australia's Qantas Airways said it was temporarily grounding one of its A380s after discovering dozens of hairline cracks in its wings. It said, however, that the cracks were of a different type from those that prompted EASA's Jan. 20 directive

Airbus and Boeing: a rivalry began 40 years ago, when one was David and the other Goliath (Part 2)

Forty years ago, the world was abuzz over the Boeing 747 and the BAC-Aerospatiale Concorde both whom had just made their first flights just a few months before. Within months of the 1969 Paris Air show the European aerospace companies created Airbus Industries which would take on the industry leaders of the day Boeing, Lockheed, and McDonnell Douglas. Today Airbus and Boeing are the two survivors battling it out in an intense global duopoly.

On 19 December 2000, Airbus decided to end the three decade old monopoly of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet and formally launched the largest passenger aircraft in the world, the Airbus A380 super jumbo. The megaproject was announced at the 1990 Farnborough Air Show, with the stated goal of 15% lower operating costs than the 747-400. Airbus organized four teams of designers, one from each of its partners (Aérospatiale, Deutsche Aerospace AG, British Aerospace, CASA) to propose new technologies for its future aircraft designs. The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage, which allows for a cabin with 50% more floor space than the next-largest airliner, the Boeing 747-400 and provides seating for 525 people in standard three-class configuration or up to 853 people in all economy class configurations. Most airlines have outfitted their A380s with luxurious first class private suites, one even offering on-board showers.

The first A380, serial number MSN001 and registration F-WWOW, was unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse on January 18, 2005.

But initial production of the A380 was troubled by delays. Airbus cited as underlying causes the complexity of the cabin wiring , its concurrent design and production, the high degree of customization for each airline, and failures of configuration management and change control.

Airbus announced the first delay in June 2005 and notified airlines that deliveries would be delayed by six months. His reduced the total number of planned deliveries by the end of 2009 from about 120 to 90–100. On 13 June 2006, Airbus announced a second delay, with the delivery schedule undergoing an additional shift of six to seven months. Although the first delivery was still planned before the end of 2006, deliveries in 2007 would drop to only 9 aircraft, and deliveries by the end of 2009 would be cut to 70–80 aircraft. On 3 October 2006, upon completion of a review of the A380 program, the CEO of Airbus, Christian Streiff, announced a third delay, pushing the first delivery to October 2007, to be followed by 13 deliveries in 2008, 25 in 2009, and the full production rate of 45 aircraft per year in 2010.

As Airbus prioritized the work on the A380-800 over the A380-800F, freighter orders were canceled by FedEx and UPS, or converted to A380-800 by Emirates and ILFC. Airbus suspended work on the freighter version, but said it remained on offer, albeit without a service entry date. For the passenger version Airbus negotiated a revised delivery schedule and compensation with the 13 customers, all of which retained their orders with some placing subsequent orders, including Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Air France,Qatar Airways, and Korean Air. The first aircraft, as delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007 and entered service on 25 October 2007 Two months later, Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choong Seng said that the A380 was performing better than both the airline and Airbus had anticipated, burning 20% less fuel per passenger than the airline's existing 747–400 fleet.

Boeing didn't want to lose a VLA (Very Large Aircraft) monopoly, and at the same time develops the Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (to compete with the A380) the fourth-generation Boeing 747 version, with lengthened fuselage, redesigned wings and improved efficiency, and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Perhaps the effort to develop two programs at the same time has caused delays.

Boeing had considered larger-capacity versions of the 747 several times during the 1990s and 2000s.In the 1996 Farnborough Airshow, announced would have stretched the 747 and used a 777-derived wing, but did not attract enough interest to enter development. In 2000, Boeing offered the 747X and 747X Stretch derivatives as alternatives to the Airbus A3XX. This was a more modest proposal than the previous . The 747X would increase the 747's wingspan to 229 ft (69.8 m) by adding a segment at the root. The 747X was to carry 430 passengers up to 8,700 nmi (16,100 km). The 747X Stretch would be extended to 263 ft (80.2 m) long, allowing it to carry 500 passengers up to 7,800 nmi (14,400 km). However, the 747X family was unable to attract enough interest to enter production. Some of the ideas developed for the 747X were used on the 747-400ER.

After the 747X program, Boeing continued to study improvements to the 747. The 747-400XQLR (Quiet Long Range) was meant to have an increased range, with better fuel efficiency and reduced noise. Changes studied included raked wingtips similar to those used on the 767-400ER and a sawtooth engine nacelle for noise reduction. Although the 747-400XQLR did not move to production, many of its features were used for the 747 Advanced.

In early 2004, Boeing announced tentative plans for the 747 Advanced that were eventually adopted. Similar in nature to the 747X, the stretched 747 Advanced used technology from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to modernize the design and its systems. On November 14, 2005, Boeing announced that it was launching the 747 Advanced as the "Boeing 747-8. 

The 747-8 was intended to use the same engine and cockpit technology as that of the 787, including the General Electric GEnx turbofan and partial fly-by-wire. Boeing said that the new design would be quieter, more economical, and more environmentally friendly than previous versions of the 747. As a derivative of the already-common 747-400, the 747-8 has the economic benefit of similar training and interchangeable parts. Boeing claims that the 747-8 is more than 10 percent lighter per seat and will consume 11 percent less fuel per passenger than the A380, translating into a trip-cost reduction of 21 percent and a seat-mile cost reduction of over 6 percent

Production of the first 747-8 Freighter began in Everett in early August 2008. On November 14, 2008, Boeing announced a delay to the 747-8 program, citing limited availability of engineering resources within Boeing, design changes, and the recent strike by factory workers. On July 21, 2009, Boeing released a photograph of the first cargo airplane, its fuselage and main wing assembled.

In February 2009, only one airline customer (Lufthansa) had ordered the 747-8I passenger model, and Boeing announced it was reassessing the 747-8 project. Chief executive Jim McNerney stated that continuation of the project was not a foregone conclusion. The company was assessing various options.

In October 2009, Boeing announced that it had delayed the first flight on the 747-8 until first quarter 2010 and delayed 747-8I delivery. In response, launch customer Cargolux stated it still intended to take delivery of the thirteen freighters it had ordered; Lufthansa confirmed its commitment to the passenger version. On November 12, 2009, Boeing announced that Cargolux's first airplane was fully assembled and entering the Everett plant's paint shop. It will undergo flight testing prior to delivery.

On February 8, 2010, after a 2.5-hour weather delay, the 747-8 Freighter made its maiden flight, taking off from Paine Field, Washington. On March 17 the third -8F made its first flight and joined the test program. Boeing still plans to display the 747-8F at the 2010 Farnborough Airshow, along with the 787, although appearances by both aircraft are contingent on flight testing remaining on schedule. During the flight tests, Boeing discovered a buffet problem with the aircraft, involving turbulence coming off the landing gear doors interfering with the inboard flaps. Boeing undertook an evaluation of the issue, which included devoting the third test aircraft to investigating the problem. The issue was resolved by a design change to the outboard main landing gear doors. In early April 2010, Boeing identified a possible defect in a part at the top of the fuselage called a longeron. According to Boeing, the parts, manufactured by subcontractor Vought Aircraft Industries, are, under certain loads, susceptible to cracking. Boeing said that the issue would not affect flight testing, but other sources stated that the problem could impact the operating envelope of the aircraft until it is fully repaired. Two other problems have been found, with oscillation in the inboard aileron, and a structural flutter, and have not yet been resolved. Combined, these problems have slowed flight testing and used up almost all the margin in Boeing's development schedule. 

On September 17, 2011 Cargolux announced that it would not accept the first two 747-8Fs due to "unresolved contractual issues between Boeing and Cargolux" with the aircraft. The 747-8F's first commercial flight was planned for September 26, 2011 by Cargolux from Luxembourg. After resolving their contractual issues, Boeing handed over the first 747-8F to Cargolux in Everett, Washington on October 12, 2011. The freighter then flew to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport and picked up cargo before flying to Luxembourg.

Airbus and Boeing: a rivalry began 40 years ago, when one was David and the other Goliath (Part 1)

Forty years ago, the world was abuzz over the Boeing 747 and the BAC-Aerospatiale Concorde both whom had just made their first flights just a few months before. Within months of the 1969 Paris Air show the European aerospace companies created Airbus Industries which would take on the industry leaders of the day Boeing, Lockheed, and McDonnell Douglas. Today Airbus and Boeing are the two survivors battling it out in an intense global duopoly.

In 1969 was clearly for Boeing. Its 747 Jumbo Jet reigned for more than 36 years as the Queen of the skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide body ever produced. The latest version of the aircraft, the 747-8, is in production and scheduled to enter service in 2010 but the project is highly delayed.

France and Germany, the founders of the consortium, were later joined by Spain and the United Kingdom set up the Airbus Industries consortium in 1970 and launched their first plane, the A300. The first twin engine wide-body aircraft, the A300 entered service in 1974 with Air France. The A300 was the first airliner to use just-in-time manufacturing techniques. Complete aircraft sections were manufactured by consortium partners all over Europe. These were airlifted to the final assembly line at Toulouse-Blagnac. Incidentally, today Boeing uses the same technique, ferrying the wings and other parts of the 787 Dreamliner from production facilities in the far east.

To counter the Airbus A300 and Boeing launched development of its twin-engine wide-body the 767 in 1978 which entered service in 1982. The 767 was conceived and designed in tandem with the narrow-body Boeing 757 twin-engine jet with both aircraft sharing common design features and flight decks. The 767 was followed the A300 cockpit and became the first Boeing wide-body airliner to enter service with a two-person crew flight deck, eliminating the need for a flight engineer. The first 767 entered service in 1982. Though orders started tapering off in the 1990s, updated versions of the plane are still in production, including the 767-400ER (extended range) model. American Airlines has outfitted many of its 767s with the Aviation Partners winglets in a bid to improve the fuel efficiency. There have been over 1,000 767s ordered with over 900 delivered as of 2009. The -300/-300ER models are the most popular variants, accounting for approximately two-thirds of all 767s ordered. As of 2009, Delta Air Lines operates the largest 767 fleet of any airline.

Airbus next widened its product offering and offered a replacement for the venerable Boeing 727 three-engine jet, the most popular aircraft at the time. At the same time the A320 also targeted Boeing's best seller the narrow-body 737. After the oil price shocks of the late 1970s, the new Airbus would be of the same size, yet offer vastly improved operating economics and significantly quieter engines. The digital technology in the A320 would herald a two generation technological leap over the all-analogue Boeing 727 and a generation ahead of the hybrid Boeing 737-300/-400/-500 series. The new Airbus was also wider than the 737s by almost eight inches providing passengers that crucial extra inch of shoulder space in the same six abreast seating layout. In 1984 Airbus launched the A320 and again Air France was the launch customer, The airliner became the best selling aircraft for Airbus, who quickly developed two shorter and smaller versions, the A319 and A318, and the longer and larger A321. The Boeing 737 is the best selling commercial airliner of all time, with the 6,000th aircraft being delivered very recently. 

Goaded by the runaway success of the modern Airbus A320 Boeing initiated development of an updated series of 737, now called the 737 Classic, with the 737 Next Generation or Next Gen (737NG) program encompassing the -600, -700, -800 and -900 was announced on November 17, 1993. The first NG, the 2,843rd 737 built, to roll out was a -700, on December 8, 1996. The 737NG is essentially a new aircraft retaining important commonality from previous 737 models. The wing area is increased by 25% and span by 16 ft (4.9 m), which increased the total fuel capacity by 30%. Coupled with the new, quieter, fuel-efficient CFM56-7B engines range is increased by 900 NM. Boeing also bridged the generational gap with the A320 bringing in the full "glass cockpit" with six LCD screens and modern avionics. The passenger experience was also spruced up with improvements similar to those on the Boeing 777, featuring more curved surfaces and larger overhead bins. To compete with the A321 on April 27, 2007, Boeing delivered the first of the newest 737 variant, the 737-900ER, to launch customer Lion Air. Seating capacity is increased to 180 passengers in a 2-class configuration or 215 passengers in a single-class layout. Additional fuel capacity and standard winglets improve range to that of other 737NG variants.

Following the success of the A320, Airbus next introduced the four engined A340 and twin-engine A330 mid-sized aircraft in 1987. While the A340 was designed to compete in the long distance over-water intercontinental routes, Airbus intended the A330 to compete directly in the ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards) market, the Boeing 767, but airlines purchased it to replace the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 since the A330 is 38% more fuel efficient.

The A330's fuselage and wings are virtually identical to the A340 thus offering a common rating for both aircraft a'laing 767/757. Both the A340 and A330 borrow heavily from the A320 fly-by-wire and flightdeck, thus offering airlines the ability to move pilots between the narrow and wide-bodies with minimal training, again like the Boeing 767/757. But the A340 was not as successful the A330 was.

Boeing responded the best way it could; by introducing the world's largest twin-engined jet the 777, commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven" The 777 can carry between 283 and 368 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a range from 5,235 to 9,380 nautical miles (9,695 to 17,372 km). Designed to bridge the capacity difference between the 767 and 747, the original 777-200 model first entered service in 1995 with United Airlines, and was stretched by 33.3 ft (10.1 m) as the 777-300 introduced in 1998. The 777-300ER (Extended Range) and 777-200LR (Long Range) variants entered service in 2004 and 2006, respectively, while a freighter version, the 777F, first flew in 2008. It's ease of use, passenger comfort, and operating economics have made it a favourite of airlines, and the 777 has blow the bottom out of the Airbus A340.

Airbus and Boeing are looking to ramp up production

Airbus and Boeing are looking to ramp up production of new narrowbody aircraft at a time when world financial experts are warning the global economy is headed for a massive downturn.

Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, says: “This is the most serious financial crisis we’ve seen since the 1930s, if not ever. We’re having to deal with very unusual circumstances.” King made the remarks earlier this month after the Bank of England decided to inject £75 billion ($117 billion) of new money into the economy in an attempt to stop Britain from slipping into recession. The central bank’s return to quantitative easing is also a move to try and prevent a credit crisis.

Data from Iata shows the decline in cargo traffic has been accelerating. Cargo traffic is significant because it is a bellwether for global economic activity. Iata’s figures reveal that air cargo traffic has been posting monthly year-on-year declines since May. In Aug. it fell 3.8% compared to a 1.8% drop in July, says Iata. Passenger traffic in Aug. rose 4.5%, but Iata notes that this compares to 6% in July. This is a sign that passenger traffic may be softening.

“The falls in business and consumer confidence, the unresolved financial situation in the Eurozone and the stagnation or worse in world trade are all likely to weaken air travel and freight further,” says Iata. “Slipping load factors will add to the adverse impact this will have on airline’s profitability.”

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence out there showing that airlines are discounting airfares to boost demand. This puts downward pressure on airline profit margins. Iata says it expects the airline industry to make $6.9 billion profit in 2011 and only $4.9 billion in 2012.

With airline profits diminishing and financial markets in turmoil, will the banks still be willing to finance aircraft on order?

During the 2008 global financial credit crisis, the banks faltered and it was the government-backed credit agencies that stepped in and saved the day. Are the European credit agencies going to be able to step up to the challenge again, considering so many European governments have their own credit problems to deal with?

Financing is also crucial to the aircraft leasing business. Lessors are already feeling the pinch. The general consensus among industry players is that the A320 segment of the lease market has become hyper competitive this year. This is partly because Chinese leasing companies and other new lessors have entered this segment, they say. 

Airbus and Boeing may take comfort from their big order backlog for A320s and 737s. But things can quickly change. American Airlines made headlines on July 20 when it announced an order for 260 A320s and 200 737s, a deal touted as being the largest order in commercial aviation history. Now American Airlines is making headlines that are rattling Wall Street. Shares of AMR Corp., the carrier’s parent, fell 33% on Oct. 3 over fears American Airlines may have to file for bankruptcy protection, because its debt levels and labor costs may prevent it from surviving another global economic downturn. The airline’s spokespeople have gone into damage control by saying American Airlines has no intention of entering into a court-supervised restructuring.

Despite the warning signs in the market, Airbus and Boeing remain optimistic. Airbus’s chief operating officer customers, John Leahy, says the European aircraft-maker is upping A320 production to 42 units per month and is considering a further increase to 44. He also says Airbus is doing a preliminary study examining what would be needed to boost production to 50 units per month. Boeing, meanwhile, is committed to increasing the 737 production rate from 31.5 per month now to 42 per month in 2014. Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO, Jim Albaugh, disclosed in late Sept. that the aircraft-maker was studying what would be required to increase production rates beyond 42 per month.

The two giants of the industry want higher production volumes so they can have higher profits and reduce customers’ waiting times for aircraft on order. But if the optimistic outlook leads to over capacity in the airline industry, then everyone ultimately suffers.

(Soure: AVIATION WEEK)

Royal Brunei Outlines New Short-Haul Strategy

Royal Brunei Airlines  is adding Airbus A320s to its fleet next year and has confirmed that its new business strategy is to focus on short-haul rather than long-haul operations.

The carrier “is planning to add at least one extra A320 to the short-haul fleet in March-May 2012 to ensure the airline can offer a more consistent schedule and level of service on the regional network,” it says. RBA has no A320s on order, which means it is likely to be in the market to lease the aircraft.

Royal Brunei also says it remains committed to taking delivery of Boeing 787s, the first of which will come in 2013. The carrier has five 787-8s on order, according to the Ascend database.

The airline also has six Boeing 777s, which are leased from Singapore Airlines (SIA), but it no longer needs so many 777s because from Oct. 30, it will stop flying to Auckland, Brisbane, Perth and Ho Chi Minh City.

Executives at the airline says they are trying to persuade SIA to let RBA break the lease and return some of the 777s. The airline says extensive research it conducted earlier this year shows it “must realign its goals and focus once again on becoming a regional hub with strategic connectivity—a return to its roots. This means focusing on regional traffic and maintaining only the long-haul routes which are consistent with the airline’s long-term objectives.”

Royal Brunei says it is abandoning some long-haul routes because the research showed that only about 9% of the traffic on long-haul routes originates in Brunei or ends in Brunei. “This 9% are the passengers that contribute to Brunei’s local economy—the rest simply transit Brunei on their way somewhere else and offer little in the way of economic activity,” RBA says.

“In these circumstances, it has become impossible to justify the continuation of the route network in its entirety, where RBA is effectively providing subsidies to over 90% of the traffic, while creating little or no economic value either for the airline or the country.”

By comparison, about 75% of all passengers on its regional routes are based in or are visiting Brunei. “It is clear why RBA must focus on the regional market,” says RBA. “To continue to serve the routes that have been suspended, would cost RBA and Brunei far more than the economic benefit the airline or country would receive in return for keeping these routes open.”

The carrier admits there are arguments that the long-haul services should continue because the belly-hold space on the aircraft is important for transporting goods to and from Brunei.

But Royal Brunei says there is no rule that says freight requires a nonstop service. It says, “Daily connections via regional hubs should be more than enough to supply Brunei with all of the goods we currently enjoy.”

Airbus: South Pacific Carriers Will Need 736 Aircraft Worth $98 Billion

Demand Seen For Larger, More Efficient Aircraft Over The Next 20 Years

According to Airbus’ latest Global Market Forecast, between 2011 and 2030, carriers in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands region will require 736 new passenger and freighter aircraft (above 100 seats) valued at $98 billion. The region’s close links to emerging economies are the main contributor to traffic growth with business and tourism set to grow steadily. Urbanization and a doubling in the number of mega cities from two to five in 2030 and a bigger middle class base will also spur traffic growth. Low Cost Carriers will continue to expand and their market share of traffic between the region and Asia is forecast to increase to some 35 per cent by 2030. 

Airbus forecasts a regional growth rate of 4.8 per cent per year up to 2030, matching the world average, but outstripping all other developed aviation markets such as North America (2.5 per cent, domestic) and Western Europe (3.5 per cent, inter regional).

The region’s requirement for 736 new passenger and freighter aircraft includes 468 single aisles, 211 twin aisles, and 57 very large aircraft (VLA). Of these, 731 will be passenger aircraft, broken down as some 380 for growth, and 349 for replacing older models with more fuel efficient ones. In 20 years, the region’s passenger fleet will almost double from some 400 aircraft today to over 780 by 2030.

John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer Customers says, “More people want to fly. Load-factors will continue to rise. Add to this higher fuel costs and infrastructure which cannot keep pace with growing demand, then larger more fuel efficient aircraft are the only sensible choice, and this is confirmed by our latest Global Market Forecast.The long term market appetite for high capacity, high productivity aircraft like the A380 remains healthy".

Globally, in the next 20 years, Asia Pacific including China and India will be at the center of the world’s strongest demand for aircraft (34 per cent) and by 2030, the largest share of traffic (33 per cent). This concentration of demand, together with its historical links to Western markets will drive business and tourism in the region. Traffic growth between Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island’s region and China (6.2 per cent), India (5.6 per cent) and the rest of Asia (5.7 per cent) is forecast to be significantly quicker than the world average 4.8 per cent. 

Airbus sells 1,179 aircraft in Jan-Sept but sold fewer planes than Boeing in September

Airbus sold fewer planes than Boeing in September but maintained a strong advantage over its U.S. rival in the first nine months of the year after setting the pace in the market for narrowbody jets, company data showed on Thursday.

The European planemaker said it sold 23 aircraft last month, bringing its order total for the year to 1,179 passenger jets. Net orders, adjusted for cancellations, stood at 1,038.

Boeing sold 530 aircraft between Jan. 1 and Sept. 27, and net orders after cancellations stood at 425 aircraft, according to its latest data. Sales included 46 new orders booked in late September.

Airbus scored a commercial success this year with a revamped version of its A320 narrowbody jetliner, offering airlines fuel savings from 2015.

But analysts say Boeing is expected to bounce back in the order race after agreeing to carry out a similar engine upgrade on its best-selling 737 plane.

Competition between the two models dominates the aircraft industry and sales in the roughly 150-seat category are predicted to reach $2 trillion over 20 years.

Sales have so far held up despite fears of a new recession, driven by growth in emerging markets and a long-awaited move by U.S. carriers to renew inefficient fleets.

Airbus said earlier it had finalised an order for 110 jets from Australia's Qantas , including 78 of the revamped A320neo jetliners. The deal is likely to be reflected in the next monthly order announcement for October.

The EADS subsidiary said it had delivered 374 aircraft in the first nine months of the year, including 16 A380 superjumbos. Delivery is the point at which airlines and lessors pay the bulk of the aircraft's agreed price. 

(Via REUERTS)