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Old 9th February 2018, 04:01 PM
Greg Hyde Greg Hyde is offline
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Boeing making good progress on Project Sunrise evaluation

Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president of marketing Randy Tinseth says the manufacturer is making progress on its study into developing an aircraft capable of meeting Qantas’s ultra long-haul objectives while at the same time having as broad an appeal as possible to other airline customers.

Project Sunrise – the name is a nod to the “Double Sunrise” flights Qantas operated between Perth and Sri Lanka using Catalinas in WW2 – pits Boeing’s 777-8X against the A350-900ULR from Airbus in a two-horse race for Qantas’s plans to serve New York and London, among other destinations, nonstop from Australia’s east coast by 2022.

The 777-8X and larger 777-9X feature new General Electric GE9X-105B1A engines capable of delivering 105,000lb of thrust, new composite wings with folding wingtips to maintain its Code E rating at airports, as well as in-cabin enhancements such as larger overhead stowage and a wider cross section.

While the 777-8X is still in development and yet to reach firm configuration, the Boeing website lists the aircraft as having a range of 8,700nm and a passenger capacity of 350-375 passengers. The aircraft is expected to enter service in 2022.

However, the final specifications will only be known after further development of the aircraft design and an analysis of its engine performance.

Tinseth said the design work on the aircraft aimed to strike a balance between the range and payload requirements for a variety of different airline customers.

“That’s what we do, we like to innovate,” Tinseth told Australian Aviation at the Singapore Airshow on February 6.

“We can’t build one aeroplane for one airline and compromise the aircraft for the major markets.”

“We’ll figure out something, I’m confident.”

The 777-X program has received 326 orders since being launched in November 2013, comprising 53 for the 777-8X and 273 for the 777-9X.

Since Qantas put forward its Project Sunrise goals in August 2017, the airline has been meeting with Airbus and Boeing to share information about the requirements for an aircraft capable of operating nonstop with a full load on these ultra long-haul routes.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said a request for proposal (RFP) was expected in 2019.

“We’re trying to work on how we get the aircraft capable of being able to make the distance, but the important thing is not only to make the distance, but to make it with a full passenger load,” Joyce said during the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit on February 5, according to a report from Flightglobal.

“We want both manufacturers to have an aircraft that is capable of doing it. If that’s the case we’ll do an RFP next year.”

It is understood Qantas was seeking an aircraft capable of carrying 300 passengers in both directions on both the New York and London routes.

Tinseth said the challenges presented by Qantas made it an exciting project to be involved in.

“I can just tell you we are making progress,” Tinseth said.

“We’ve have very productive conversations with the airline.

“We will weigh those issues.”

While airline customers will have to wait until 2022 to get their hands on the 777-8X, the first A350-900ULR is less than a year away from commercial service.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is the launch customer for the A350-900ULR, with which it plans to resume nonstop flights from Singapore to Los Angeles (8,770nm) and New York (9,534nm) in 2018.

Full story

http://australianaviation.com.au/201...se-evaluation/
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