Airbus shows off A350 at big Asian airshow
konknaijaboy | On 10, Feb 2014
SINGAPORE (AP) — Airbus showed off its new wide-body A350 on Monday ahead of Asia’s biggest airshow, sending a signal the jet’s delivery schedule is on track and stepping up its battle with Boeing for the lucrative long-haul market.
Reporters toured an A350 fitted with monitoring equipment instead of a passenger cabin. At the Singapore show, which starts Tuesday, it will go on public display for the first time since making its debut flight in June last year. It will also join the show’s flying display.
A little more than half of the jet is made of carbon fiber to make it lighter and more fuel efficient, a key consideration for airlines contending with volatile fuel prices.
The A350, which can carry from 200 to 400 passengers and has a list price starting at $254.3 million, will allow Airbus to step up competition in the long-haul market dominated by Boeing’s 777 and 787 jets.
Airbus has received 814 orders so far for the A350, with 30 percent coming from Asian airlines such as Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines. The region is a crucial market for plane makers because its economic growth is driving rapid expansion of jet fleets.
Airbus hopes to woo buyers by showing off the plane to trade visitors on the show’s first two days.
The airplane’s appearance in Singapore is a strong sign it’s on schedule to start deliveries to airline customers in the second half of the year.
Airbus engineers say they’ve been testing the airplane under extreme conditions and it’s now entering the certification process.
This year they flew the plane to La Paz, Bolivia for high altitude testing, to Iqualit in northern Canada to check its performance in cold weather, and to a Florida facility to test it under even more extreme temperatures.
An Airbus A350-900 test plane is seen at Singapore’s Changi Airport at a media preview ahead of the upcoming Singapore Air Show on Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. Airbus is showing off its new wide-body A350 at Asia’s biggest airshow this week. It’s a strong sign the European plane maker is on schedule to start delivering the advanced jet to airline customers in the second half of the year. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair)
An Airbus A350-900 test plane is seen at Singapore’s Changi Airport at a media preview ahead of the upcoming Singapore Air Show on Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. Airbus is showing off its new wide-body A350 at Asia’s biggest airshow this week. It’s a strong sign the European plane maker is on schedule to start delivering the advanced jet to airline customers in the second half of the year. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair)
An Airbus A350-900 test plane is seen at Singapore’s Changi Airport at a media preview ahead of the upcoming Singapore Air Show on Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. Airbus is showing off its new wide-body A350 at Asia’s biggest airshow this week. It’s a strong sign the European plane maker is on schedule to start delivering the advanced jet to airline customers in the second half of the year. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair)
An Airbus A350-900 flies during an aerial display for a media preview ahead of the upcoming Singapore Air Show on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair)
An Airbus A350-900 flies during an aerial display for a media preview ahead of the upcoming Singapore Air Show on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair)
An Airbus A350-900 flies during an aerial display for a media preview ahead of the upcoming Singapore Air Show on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair)
An exhibitor looks at a model of the Airbus A350 aircraft ahead of the Singapore Airshow February 10, 2014. Aerospace firms will finalise billions of dollars of deals at Tuesday’s Singapore Airshow, hoping to ride out a storm in emerging markets whose prosperity is vital to their plans to keep producing record numbers of jets. Asia’s largest aerospace gathering is usually a “show and tell” event where executives come to mingle with some of the world’s biggest long-haul carriers and Asia’s ambitious new travel tycoons, as well as the region’s busy military buyers. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE – Tags: BUSINESS TRANSPORT)
A worker makes final touches to the Airbus booth ahead of the Singapore Airshow February 10, 2014. Aerospace firms will finalise billions of dollars of deals at Tuesday’s Singapore Airshow, hoping to ride out a storm in emerging markets whose prosperity is vital to their plans to keep producing record numbers of jets. Asia’s largest aerospace gathering is usually a “show and tell” event where executives come to mingle with some of the world’s biggest long-haul carriers and Asia’s ambitious new travel tycoons, as well as the region’s busy military buyers. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE – Tags: BUSINESS TRANSPORT)
More News
-
May 2, 2016
May 2, 2016
