Airbus: Taking to New Heights
Just when we think that we have gone about as far as we can go with passenger aircraft features and development, someone like Airbus comes along and reminds us that there are always areas that can be improved. Linnea Ahlgren at Simple Flying points out a number of new efficiencies that will help corporate travelers and their respective companies meet their sustainability requirements. Below are some excerpts from Ahlgren’s article.
The introduction of new propulsion technology is not something that happens overnight. As such, we will not see the Airbus A380 MSN001 multi-modal testbed aircraft launched into the skies with a hydrogen engine mounted to the fuselage in 2023 (despite the recent reveal of a hydrogen-electric fuel cell engine as a parallel pathway to direct combustion). However, Airbus will take several incremental and crucial steps on the way there.
These include the launch of a series of tests across novel propulsion, including hydrogen and electric, and supporting technologies such as cryogenic superconductors in collaboration with CERN. The first test results of the SCALE (Super-Conductor for Aviation with Low Emissions) demonstrator are expected at the end of 2023 and will be the first step towards a long-term collaboration that will hopefully pave the way to superconducting power distribution for aircraft. In turn, this could revolutionize efficiency in airborne electric propulsion systems.
Airbus has also intensified its efforts to obtain certification for a broad range of its products to operate on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In November 2022, the manufacturer operated an A330MRTT - the military variant of the Airbus A330 commercial jetliner - on 100% SAF in both engines in collaboration with the UK Royal Air Force and Rolls-Royce.
Jesus Ruiz, experimental test pilot and Captain of the flight, commented on the results,
“From the crew perspective, the SAF operation was ‘transparent,’ meaning that no differences were observed operationally. The Test Plan was exhaustive and robust and has allowed us to compare SAF with JET1 culminating in a flight without a single drop of fossil fuel. Teamwork was a key contributor, harmonizing experience from Airbus, Rolls-Royce and the RAF."
The manufacturer has previously operated an A380 with one engine running on 100% SAF, as well as an A350 and an A319neo. With such a successful outcome with two engines from the RAF test, we are bound to see more 100% SAF tests in 2023 – most likely involving Airbus' commercial line of products, as well as helicopters. Especially since Virgin Atlantic intends to operate a Boeing 787 across the Atlantic on 100% SAF this year.
A321XLR
Airbus' extra long-range narrow-body flew for the first time in June 2022, and the test campaign now comprises three aircraft. As late as December, Airbus put the narrow-body jet through its paces with a 13-hour flight over Europe. The plane was originally intended to have entered service by now, but the project, like many other aircraft developments, has been delayed. While it has gotten some way on the path to certification, regulators are unconvinced about Airbus' proposed solution for the extra fuel tank needed to give the jet its intended "game-changing" range of 4,700 NM (8,704 km).
Over the next couple of years, the manufacturer will increase the production rate for the inherited Bombardier C-series jet to 14 aircraft per month – ten of which will be produced on parallel lines in Mirabel, Quebec. This is part of an efficiency and cost-cutting drive for the A220, which, despite its popularity and an order book for close to 800 units, has failed to reach profitability yet.
Meanwhile, the first half of 2023 will see Airbus break ground on a new 350,000-square-foot facility in Mobile for an additional final assembly line for the A320 family. Planes are expected to roll out of the building for the first time in 2025. The expansion of Airbus' Alabama site will also feature a new paint shop, and there will be further modifications to the main hangar of the location.
Aircraft manufacturers have seen orders begin to pour in again for single-aisle jets following the lull of the pandemic. Larger jets have, unsurprisingly, not seen the same bounce-back in demand. Meanwhile, sources familiar with the matter are expecting to see a return to a more normal state of affairs for wide-body orders in 2023 through 2024. The latest information is still that Airbus will increase its A350 production from about five currently to six in early 2023.
While business travelers and their corporate travel arrangers are enthusiastically embracing improvements in aircraft efficiencies and performance, I think it goes without saying that we are all looking forward to the development of the most important feature of all…more leg room.
Mark Altman
Forte Business Travel Solutions
516-624-0500 x5072
maltman@travelsavers.com
Source: Simple Flying, https://simpleflying.com, posted by Linnea Ahlgren on January 5, 2023. Click here for a direct link to the article.
