AEROFLOT COMMITS TO AIRBUS A350XWB
By IAG | March 22nd, 2007 | Posted in a350, aeroflot, airbus | 4 CommentsIn news that has been waiting for months, Russian flag carrier Aeroflot signed a Memorandum of Understanding for 22 Airbus A350XWB aircraft. Aeroflot's order brings the total number of orders and commitments for the Airbus A350XWB to 248. Aeroflot will also further increase its Airbus fleet with ten new A330-200s, which will be acquired on operating lease.
This order has been gestating for nearly two years. It is amazing the way it ended because the 787 was the airline's first choice. But because it moved too slowly, circumstances (the Kremlin) caught up and changed everything. Lucky for Airbus and no doubt highly irritating to Boeing. Aeroflot could have had 787 deliveries by 2009. Now it will have A330s in 2009 – hardly an appropriate substitute. Oh well, that's politics.
Well… I beg to differ.
As it was Airbus it was politics, if it was Boeing would have been what? Bribery?
They certainly have a lot of expertise in this.
The market knows how capable the A330 is; obliterated the 767 and competes daily with 777 over the Atlantic and further away.
The pipedream is yet to fly and prove in the market how capable it is with all that carbon, which seems to be vanishing at an alarming rate, particularly in the wings…
The "orders and commitments" is meaningless as the commitments are meaningless PERIOD
and the old orders for the A350 prior to the A350XWB are also off the table till re-negotiated and re-signed.
So the A350XWB is still <50 frames ordered.
BTW the 767 has sold 1000+ frames, the A330 is what? 1/2 that? more over the 767 is selling nicely this year as people looked at the A330F and laughed at its failure to be more efficent than the far older 767F. The 767 has 31% of its MTOW as payload vs a BEST for the A330F of 29% if you take the payload varient instead of range.
Never mind the silly little tacked on bulge on the A330F looks like it belongs on a old Chevy El Camino not on a plane that won't see service this side of 2008.
Well, the Qatar order for the A350XWB (80 a/c, not yet signed granted, but already announced), coupled with Aeroflot and Finnair, brings the total orders for the A350XWB at more than 100 a/c.
You have to wonder if the Qatar order will hold if they're not allowed to buy into Airbus. It's obviously a lever being used for something.
I'm sure the A350 will be a serviceable plane, whether or not it ends up being more efficient than the 787. But it does seem rather damning that all the large world carriers which are at least nominally independent of state control have ordered the 787 so far.