SINGAPORE—Airbus is highlighting commonality of the A350F with the A350-1000 passenger version as it prepares for market entry of the aircraft in 2026.
“There is a massive amount of commonality,” Crawford Hamilton, Airbus head of freighter marketing, says on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow.
The A350F is Airbus’ tool to break into the Boeing monopoly for large freighters. Since its launch, the manufacturer has collected 50 firm orders; among them seven from Singapore Airlines and six from Cathay Pacific. Airbus says it now has a 48% market share against the Boeing 777-8F and has collected all orders for large cargo aircraft (about 80 tons payload) in 2023.
Airbus believes there is a market for 600 aircraft in that category from 2023 to 2042. Almost one quarter—145—of those aircraft will be based in the Asia-Pacific region. There are also 890 aircraft forecast in the 40-80 tons payload size category.
Hamilton argues the timing for bringing a new freighter to market is “ideal for us” as Boeing also has to offer a new aircraft with an ICAO mandate forcing the end of production of the Boeing 767F and 777F in 2027. Meanwhile, Airbus sees substantial demand for replacing the aging in-service fleet, including Boeing 747-400Fs and MD-11s.
Hamilton also believes that the A330-200F’s time “is drawing to a close now in terms of doing new ones.” Airbus only ever got orders for 38 of the aircraft, all of which have been delivered. Airbus would consider taking new orders for it “with sufficient lead time," but Hamilton says he doubts new commitments will come in. The A330 market will instead shift entirely to passenger-to-freighter conversions because of the much lower capital costs and increasing availability of feedstock as more passenger aircraft are retired in the coming years.
Airbus last year increased maximum payload of the A350-1000F from 109 to 111 tons, which meant a slight reduction of range from 4,700 nm to 4,550 nm. However, Hamilton points out that the most important freighter route (Hong Kong-Anchorage) is still well within the capabilities of the aircraft. According to Boeing, the 777-8F has a maximum payload of 118 tons and a range of just over 4,400 nm.
Hamilton stresses that the A350’s takeoff weight is 46 tons below that of its competitor leading to 10-15% lower fuel burn, according to Airbus assumptions. The aircraft will feature the largest side cargo door, larger than the 747’s nose door.
Airbus is beginning industrialization of the A350F with first parts already in production. Final assembly will begin in 2025 with first flight scheduled to take place toward the end of next year. Airbus plans to deliver the first aircraft in 2026. Two development aircraft are going to participate in the flight test campaign.
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