Utmaningen: En nonstop-flygning på över 20 timmar
Inget flygbolag i världen kan erbjuda en resa från Australiens östkust till London utan mellanlandningar – det finns helt enkelt inte kommersiella plan som klarar sträckan. Men två nya plan, A350 och 777X, som just nu utvecklas av Airbus och Boeing väntas komma nära.
Det australiska flygbolaget Qantas Airways utmanade på fredagen de båda flygtillverkarna att försöka få planen att klara hela resan mellan Sydney och London som väntas ta 20 timmar och 20 minuter, skriver Bloomberg.
”Vi ser framåt att arbeta med Qantas för att se om vi kan klara kraven för att flyga non-stop mellan Sydney och London”, skriver Airbus i ett svar på utmaningen.
bakgrund
Airbus A350 XWB
Wikipedia (en)
The Airbus A350 XWB is a family of long-range, twin-engine wide-body jet airliners developed by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The A350 is the first Airbus aircraft with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer. Its variants seat 280 to 366 passengers in typical three-class seating layouts. The A350 is positioned to succeed the A340, and compete with the Boeing 787 and 777.
The A350 was originally conceived in 2004 as a pairing of the A330's fuselage with new aerodynamics features and engines. In 2006, Airbus redesigned the aircraft in response to criticism from several major prospective customers and renamed it the A350 XWB (extra wide body). Development costs are estimated at €11 billion (US$15 billion or £9.5 billion). As of July 2017, Airbus had received 848 orders for A350s from 46 customers worldwide. The prototype A350 first flew on 14 June 2013 from Toulouse, France. Type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency was received in September 2014 and certification from the Federal Aviation Administration two months later. On 15 January 2015, the A350 entered service with Qatar Airways, the type's launch customer.
Boeing 777X
Wikipedia (en)
The Boeing 777X is a new series of the Boeing 777 family that is under development. The 777X series has two variants; the 777-8 and the 777-9. The 777X is to feature new engines, new composite wings with folding wingtips, and technologies from the Boeing 787. It is intended to compete with the Airbus A350. Deliveries are expected to begin in December 2019.
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