 |
| Singapore Airlines A380 double-decker |
ONE IS BIG AND FAT with all the polish of a portly dowager. Critics describe her as a “dinosaur”. The other is sleek and quick, and capable of long outings, but derided as incontrovertibly “plastic”. Who would you pick for a snog or, in this case, a transpacific flight? With the much-touted rollout of the Airbus A-380 behemoth, the gloves have come off as Boeing cries foul and prepares for the arrival of its very own B-787 “Dreamliner”.
What’s the fuss? Airbus has opted for a super aeroplane that will render the stalwart B-747 all but obsolete, transporting a vast scrum of bodies in one neat package. While offering 49 percent more room than a Boeing 747, the Airbus 380’s operating costs are cited at around 15 to 20 percent lower per seat. Add to this claims of fewer emissions, less noise, and a seat capacity stretching from the median 555 to a staggering 800 (double the heaving bottoms on a B747), and it’s small wonder airline accountants are beaming. Airbus claims its plane is more fuel efficient than a car.
But the dinosaur was late. Very late. Singapore Airlines, the launch customer received its first Airbus A-380 in October 2007, a full year behind schedule leading to question marks regarding customer loyalty, final orders, and price reductions as compensation. (SIA's inaugural flight was globally auctioned for various charities and its first commercial route is Singapore-Sydney.) Still, the behemoth is in the air, advertising its "superior" comfort and features.
Ironically, Boeing could have launched the first double decker three decades ago when Pan Am pressed them for this option
The SIA A380 carries just 471 passengers (not the sweaty 800 of journalistic scuttlebutt, though that figure does represent the aircraft's maximum capacity). In addition to 12 partitioned suites in a grade beyond first class - where a double bed can be created for passengers travelling together who might thus fully enjoy the feel of Givenchy linen aloft - the 60 business class seats on the upper deck recline fully flat and offer USB ports, in-seat power for a laptop and a 39cm (15.4-inch) LCD video screen. The seat width is 86cm or 34 inches with a forward-facing configuration of 1-2-1 permitting aisle access from every seat.
 |
| Boeing 787 Dreamliner |
Farther back in the delivery queue,
Qantas is harder hit. The Australian national carrier may only start receiving its aircraft in August 2008, two years off the original delivery date. Emirates may scale down its order, Virgin has announced holding back its purchase of six A380s for four years until 2013, FedEx has cancelled its order of 10 Airbus A380 aircraft, opting instead for the Boeing 777 freighter version, and UPS has placed its order on hold. The Boeing Dreamliner had, meanwhile, by June 2007, secured a tentative order for 50 aircraft from an aircraft leasing company. In October 2007 British Airways announced one of its biggest fleet orders in a decade with a mixed purchase of 12 Airbus A380 aircraft and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Said BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh: "These aircraft set the gold standard when it comes to environmental performance."
Send us your Feedback / Letter to the Editor
The new, and larger, Airbus wing design ensures future versions of the aircraft can handle a total weight of up to 750 tons. This means the US$280m A380 will achieve optimum cost-efficiency carrying closer to 800 passengers. That’s a lot of beers and queues for the toilets – on two floors. Not perhaps what passengers want to hear. Of course, most airlines will opt for a more sensible seating configuration. Singapore Airlines offers 471 seats. Assembly is a major production, one dogged by technical glitches, including wiring delays as the aircraft carries hundreds of kilometres of wire that have to be painstakingly fed to various parts of the frame.
The A380 is a space guzzler - it needs more runway, more apron for its giant wing span, and redesigned boarding gates
The A380 had hoped to commence service in 2006 with Singapore Airlines but delivery delays cast a pall on this and other orders. Airports everywhere are quailing at the prospect. Heathrow’s Terminal Three will need to undergo expensive redesign to accommodate the Airbus A380 and Emirates has already begun using oversized ground equipment in Dubai to be in readiness for its own delivery. The new Airbus is a space guzzler. It needs more runway to clear the ground, more taxiway for the sweep of its enormous 79m wingspan, and boarding gates need rejigging to deal with the logistics of deplaning 800 people from a towering double-decker.
 |
| A-380 roomy interior and flat bed |
Boeing believes large capacity aircraft flying to big, overcrowded, dispersal “hubs” are passé. Travellers want speed and direct connections. The B787 Dreamliner (formerly the B7E7) is the result of Boeing’s new preoccupation. The aircraft is swift and fuel efficient, with a cruising speed of Mach 0.85. It is smaller and can access regional airports without fuss. It also has a range that can extend to 16,000km carrying about 280 passengers. The good news for passengers is the B-787 is pressurised for a lower altitude and with higher cabin humidity.
Fast the aircraft may be, but production is proving a headache. After three announcements on production delays, Boeing announced in early April 2008 that the plane will not be certified and delivered until late 2009 to its first customer, ANA (with 50 aircraft booked). The B787 delivery delays have left customers and Boeing red-faced as Air India, Air New Zealand, Japan Airlines, and ANA consider compensation. Qantas (65 planes booked in the first batch) is already seeking financial redress. The short-range B787-3 is the worst affected and will turn up last, furthering the woes of main customer All Nippon Airways. A total of 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliners are slated for delivery to ANA in 2009, less than a quarter of the original estimate.
Rival Airbus keenly aware that Boeing may be onto something, is also working on a smaller, more fuel-efficient A350 to compete head-to-head with the B787. Boeing may yet have the last laugh. Qantas has committed a potential US$18 billion for up to 115 of the sleek B787s.
The B787 has opted for a sweeping archways design and light diodes in the ceiling that mimic the changing sky colours
But do you need to fly a football field halfway across the world? British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air France, Lufthansa, Thai Airways International, Malaysia Airlines, Korean, Etihad and China Southern, among others, believe so. Some will put in gyms, bars, casinos, shops, offices and even play areas – but not for the Mile High Club, whose members will have to fend for themselves in vast open spaces. The coliseum has failed to materialise, disappointing those who would love to toss all airline chefs to the lions, Christian or not. And while a lot of seats can be crammed into an A380, not all airlines plan to do so.
 |
| Boeing 787 Interiors: Modern archways |
The Boeing 787 cabin will offer a visually relaxing “sweeping archways” design, window shades whose opacity can be altered at the flick of a button, greater humidification of cabin air, and a sky simulation effect through the use of colour changing light-emitting diodes in the aircraft ceiling. Aisles will be wider as will the seats.
It is somewhat ironic that Boeing could have launched the very first double-decker aircraft over three decades ago. Pressed by visionary Pan Am founder Juan Trippe for large double decker aircraft, Boeing responded by designing the widebody B747, arguing that a two-storey aircraft would be plagued by far too many limitations.
Today it is more than likely that there is a market for both products, big and small. But the transatlantic diatribe continues to escalate. Boeing asserts Airbus has competed, unfairly, through backdoor European subsidies. Yet, Boeing itself has been a major beneficiary of state and federal aid with Washington State bending over backwards to ensure the B-787 plant stays with them. Much of Boeing’s aircraft design has been a spin-off from US military-sponsored research.
The Airbus mid-size competitor, the A350, is mired in a major redesign debate after several potential buyers felt it compared poorly with the B787. As a consequence, the A-350 roll-out will also be delayed, giving Boeing a certain headstart in the mid-size market. The new Airbus A350 will eventually weigh in with a wider fuselage and expanded wing size. The A350 XWB (or extra wide body) as it will be termed, will extend the flight range to around 8,500 nautical miles. It will roll out in three versions, the A350-800, the A350-900 and the A350-1000, that will seat from 270 to 375 passengers. Airbus says this will be one of the "quietest" aircraft, with low emissions and 30 percent more fuel efficiency.
By 1949, Boeing 377 Stratocruisers were plying the North Atlantic with opulent living rooms for first class
Now as the China dragon awakes, a new competitor plans to streak across the horizon, bidding for a share of the small jet market for the expected regional travel explosion. The Chinese made ARJ21 (literally, the Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century) is taking shape in the Shanghai ACAC plant with a dash of Boeing factory knowhow, huge dollops of government subsidies and, more recently, a Bombardier stake.
 |
| ARJ21: small plane big ambitions |
The small ARJ21 will carry between 90 to 105 passengers serving regional airports in China and beyond. It will be particularly well adapted for short or high-altitude runways that require extra power or a sharp rate of climb. The ARJ21 is expected to take to the skies in 2008 and gain CAAC certification in 2009. In China alone domestic airlines are expected to purchase almost 3,500 new aircraft by 2025.
Bombardier's 130-seat Bombardier C130 with a range of 1,800 nautical miles, crosses swords with various small jets by Embraer.
Was big always beautiful? The prodigious and spectacularly ill-starred 12-engine Dornier Do-X was the world’s biggest aircraft in 1929, its hull accommodating a full three floors. The Wall Street crash ended its career despite a problem-plagued round-the-world PR stunt that took ten months to accomplish, achieving little in the end. By 1949, double-decker Boeing 377 Stratocruisers were plying the North Atlantic with opulent digs, and even living rooms, for first class passengers. No flat seat hype then. The B377 used real beds. And there was the memorable Howard Hughes “Spruce Goose” (H4 Hercules) that took to the skies, briefly, in 1947. This extraordinary flying boat arrived too late to aid in the war effort – its prime purpose – and was relegated to museum attraction.
Barring the hugely successful B747, aviation history has not been kind to passenger aircraft behemoths. Now, once again, we shall have to wait and see.
Send us your Feedback / Letter to the Editor
|
