The European and American aerospace companies ‘Airbus’ and ‘Boeing’ are pulling up their socks to compete against each other to build world’s longest jet for Singapore Airlines. The airlines authorities will judge the two designs presented by the aerospace companies and pick one of them as the winner by the end of 2016.
Presently Airbus and Boeing are preparing power-point presentations, which will be evaluated by the engineers from the Singapore Airlines.
Sources have informed that both the jets will be twin-aisled and the length will be almost similar to a football field. The A350-2000 jet by Airbus will be almost 258 feet long and it will be able to provide seats to almost 400 passengers. On the other hand, the 777-10X jet by Boeing will be able to provide seats to almost 450 people and the length will be nearly 263 feet. The new jets will be able to provide arrangements for 30 to 50 more passengers than the current largest jets by Airbus and Boeing.
Boeing’s new 777X jet will be able to fit into the airport gates and taxiways, where the current Boeing 777 jets fit. According to the sources, the new jet A350 by Airbus will have a smaller wingspan than the Boeing 777X. The new jet by Boeing will be able to fly the travellers from the year 2020.
At present, the latest models by Airbus and Boeing can be bought in exchange of around $355 million and $400 million. It is being estimated by the industry experts that the new models will be more expensive than the present ones.
At the end of the day, Singapore Airlines will evaluate both the jet designs by the manufacturers before choosing the ultimate winner.
According to the vice president of analysis for the Teal Group consultancy, Richard Aboulafia, Airbus might find this project harder because of the Rolls-Royce engines that the company uses in their jets. He has also informed that the Boeing 777X jets will use the new General Electric engines. He also added that the Airbus authorities are planning to bring the jet on the market by the end of 2021.
The vice president of public affairs for Singapore Airlines, Nicholas Ionides has informed that they discuss fleet requirements with manufacturers on a regular basis, and any such discussions are confidential.
A spokesperson for Boeing has informed that they will continue to study 777X derivatives and seek customer input to develop products that provide the most value for customers.
Spokesperson for Airbus has declined to give any statement regarding their ongoing sales campaigns.
