Airbus’ A350-1000 adds further impetus to the ‘big twinjet’ battle

On Thursday November 24, Airbus staged the maiden flight of its latest and largest A350-family jet, the A350-1000, which will have a passenger capacity of 366 seats within its lightweight carbon-fiber structure. MSN059 took off at Blagnac in Toulouse, France at 10.42 hrs local time and the flight lasted more than four hours. Powered by Rolls-Royce’s new Trent XWB-97 engines, the aircraft traversed south-western France, during which the crew explored the aircraft’s handling and flight envelope. This jet is the latest addition to the battle for market share between Airbus and its biggest rival, Boeing, for the twin-engine wide-body sector, a battle which Boeing currently seem to be winning. Analysts estimate that the value of this market sector will be US$1 trillion over the next 20 years, so competition between the two companies is fierce as they play a ‘game’ of leapfrog with each with every new model brought to market. The A350-1000 was intended to challenge the Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range), but Boeing have already announced plans for a 400-plus-seat 777X Series.
Not to be outdone, even before the maiden flight of the A350-1000 Airbus has revealed plans for the 400-seat A350-2000 which they intend to offer to specific airlines. Boeing, on the other hand, have also indicated they are mulling over plans to produce an even larger 777X Series aircraft, the 77710X which would have capacity for 450 people.
Current orders for the next-generation A350-1000 stand at 195 out of a combined total of 810 A350 Family orders, the price listed as US$356 million. These sales figures struggle to compare with those of Boeing’s 777-300ER which currently stand at 809. Airbus had anticipated the A350-1000 would help improve the company’s market share, which stands at 35% compared to Boeing’s 50%, but the A350-1000 may not be the solution.
However, breaking the ceiling of 400 passengers for a twin-engine jet brings back into question the value of the four-engine wide-body jet, such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8, sales of which are currently weak. The maiden flight of the A350-1000 seems to be coinciding with the drop in demand for wide-body jets, though Boeing have been keen to point out that despite a degree of “hesitation”, long-term demand for the larger jets remained sound.