A Airbus is studying a possible version bigger of the family of A350 jets, said Christian Scherer, executive president of the commercial aviation area, this Monday (17), when the airline Emirates, from Dubai, started a new debate about larger and more capable twin-engine jets.
The comments to Reuters They were made shortly after Boeing said it would study a possible lengthened version of the delayed 777X family of aircraft, after selling 65 of the current largest model to Emirates on the first day of the Dubai Airshow.
Airbus in order to combat Boeing’s 400-seat 777-9, which is an updated version of the 777 minijumbo. Both planes replaced the iconic four-engine jumbo jets.
Industry sources say Airbus’ idea for a larger plane was previously floated under the A350-2000 label, at a time when Boeing was already studying a possible 777-10X.
When asked if Airbus was looking into this again, Scherer said “yes” and added: “Several of our customers are telling us… please look at the possibility of increasing the size of the plane, because that could be a tremendous solution for us as we grow, and that’s what we’re looking at.”
The initiative overlaps with efforts to improve the A350-1000 for Gulf conditions, where engines wear out more quickly.
Airbus was unable to sell the A350-1000 to Emirates at the previous Dubai Airshow in 2023 when the airline had problems with the maintenance performance of its Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engine and opted for the smaller and more widely used A350-900.
AIRBUS SATISFIED WITH A350-1000
Rolls-Royce is paving the way for potential growth, said Scherer, who is retiring at the end of the year after decades at Airbus.
“We are very pleased with the commercial performance of the 1000. We have not given up on Emirates,” he told Reuters. Our customer Emirates told us: “Please show me what the upgraded engine can do. We are about to do that and then we will move the ball forward.”
Talk of larger twin-engine jets revives a fierce debate between Airbus and Boeing more than a decade ago, when the U.S. planemaker was originally launching the 777X family at the same show with big Gulf orders in 2013. Since then, the 777X has suffered a major delay.
Airbus’ largest twin-engine plane, the A350-1000, with more than 350 seats, is smaller but lighter and newer.
Boeing says the updated 777X will have unmatched economy thanks in part to its new GE9X engines and new carbon wings.
Airbus said Boeing’s economic argument is based in part on adding 40 more seats to counter the efficiency of the lighter A350, spreading costs across more passengers.
Scherer said technologies like on a larger jet.
Airbus and Boeing dueled over designs for large models in a contest for potential Singapore Airlines orders in 2016, which was leaked at the time to aviation journalist Jon Ostrower.
“I suspect the GE9X would have more thrust potential than the XWB (Rolls-Royce), and the engines will be key. The engines will also be much better understood than they were in 2016,” said aviation analyst Rob Morris.
