ID :
349437
Fri, 11/28/2014 - 04:29
Auther :

Airbus Upbeat On A350 XWB's Outlook

SEPANG (Selangor, Malaysia), Nov 28 (Bernama) -- Airbus SAS is confident the new A350 XWB will be a success given the increasing demand for widebody aircraft and uptrend in air travel. Customer Affairs, A350 XWB Marketing Director, Mike Bausor said demand for air travel had a tendency to double every 15 years and this was creating more demand for widebody aircraft. "In the next 20 years, an estimated total of 31,358 new passenger and freight aircraft, with a market value of US$4.6 trillion, is needed to cater to the growing global demand. "Out of the total aircraft, 40 per cent is expected to come from airlines in this region," he told a media briefing prior to a demonstration flight as part of its five-city Asian tour here, Thursday. Elaborating on the widebody aircraft, he said global demand was expected to reach 9,287 units in 20 years, with demand from Asia-Pacific airlines constituting 47 per cent. Bausor said the A350 XWB was especially successful in the Asia-Pacific region with 244 aircraft orders from airlines in the region, out of the 750 orders recorded worldwide so far. Customers from the region include AirAsia X, which ordered 10 aircraft, Asiana Airlines, Air China, Cathay Pacific Airways, China Airlines, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International and Vietnam Airlines. The new aircraft, costing from US$295 million, has three variants, all designed for long-haul flights, namely, A350-800 (276 seats), A350-900 (315 seats) and A350-1000 (369 seats). The flight test aircraft, A350-900, concluded its tour here today and will return to its home base in Toulouse, France on Friday following an 11-day tour. Also on board during the 90-minute demonstration flight were Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and AirAsia X CEO Azman Osman-Rani. The aircraft, which can fly non-stop on flights of up to 8,000 nautical miles, uses the fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, translating into unrivalled levels of operational efficiency with 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn and significantly lower maintenance costs. On market share, Airbus, which current holds 50 per cent of the commercial aircraft manufacturing market, hopes to maintain the percentage in the next 20 years. --BERNAMA

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