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If you saw the statistics for Airbus latest family addition, the A350 XWB (eXtra Wide Body) passenger airplane, you would probably confuse it with the American rival, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It will probably take the flying public years to be able to distinguish the aircraft in the air, or even when they are inside the cabin.
The Boeing 787 is made from 50 per cent carbon fiber; while the Airbus A350 is 53 per cent carbon fiber. Both will be long range and can fly in excess of 8,000 miles without refueling. In effect, flying the long thin routes. Being somewhat bigger, the A350 will have anywhere between 300-400 seats, while the Boeing 787's biggest model will barely reach 300 seats. Both come in three different size models although the smaller version of the 787 may be dropped based on comments from Boeing.
Airbus indicates the A350 will reduce fuel consumption by 25 per cent. The Airbus is bundled as a replacement for any Boeing 747 operator due to it's size. The Boeing 787 claims to deliver 15 per cent better fuel efficiency over the similarly-sized Boeing 767 and so it should, considering it is introduced 25 years after the Boeing 767.
The Airbus A350 has 505 orders from 32 customers while the Boeing 787 has 876 orders from 53 customers.
The A350 windows are wider; the 787's are taller. The list continues.
When comparing the two airplanes, there are major differences between the two.
The A350 cockpit is one area that will distinguish it as a more modern airliner. The cockpit will have six large LCD displays that provide all the necessary pilot information. For comparison the A380 has 10. The A380 has been the testing bed for this new technology. These electronics in the cockpit have been found to reduce the need for the many individual circuit breakers. The circuit breakers have in the past been an issue for airliners and caused various accidents.
A huge difference between the two is that the A350 is still in the design phase, the Boeing 787 is right now in flight testing. The first A350 will not leave Airbus' new Toulouse, France final assembly plant until approximately 2011. Airbus has previously announced that the new aircraft will enter service in 2013, but if Airbus have learnt from the A380, and more recently the 787, they will probably add two years to that timetable. It has already been rumored that the A350 timeline has already slipped.
Boeing recently announced another delay in the 787, and the first delivery to ANA will occur in first quarter of 2011.
The market of airplane design, and the size of the aircraft, shows that the airplanes will be somewhat similar. Both manufacturers have further emphasized that will they may seem similar, the real difference between products is the customer experience inside. With the new Boeing 787, the inside has been a revolution, while Airbus released it first A380 interiors with showers and bars. Both companies have had different objectives of late: Airbus designed the huge and less successful A380 while Boeing betted their business on the more modest 787 and a small change to the 747, with the 747-8.
As earlier mentioned the largest A350 will carry 100 more passengers than its rival. Boeing's designed the 787 to sit between the 737 and the 747-8 Intercontinental, a new model of the world's first Jumbo Jet. The 747-8 has been re-engined and relaunched as a new airplane model.
Initial indications show that the A350 is a lot more expensive then its rival, the Boeing 787. Considering the size, this is a matter of economies of scale. The most expensive is the biggest, the A380. The A350 has list price at 5-5 million; while the Boeing 787 at 0-5 million, makes the 787 a sale item. From these list prices, airline negotiation normally drops the price below list price. Based on the numbers it seems to clearly favor Boeing unless the A350 turns out to be very economical for it's size.
When an airline purchase an aircraft in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and looking at a highly sophisticated modern machines, it isn't just a head-on comparison of price performance. Sometimes it involves years of talking between the aircraft manufacturer and the airline, which includes courtships and politics. Based on the fact that the 787 is in the air, and has a solid order book, the A350 has a long journey ahead of it to reach the same level of success.
While the Boeing 787 might be ahead, once the A350 hits the skies with paying passengers, the true test of competition will be held. We will have to wait several more years before the Airbus A350 defeats the Boeing 787 and both are commonplace in our skies.
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