A319/A320/A321 NEO Partie 1

macintosh a écrit:Bonsoir,

Je poste dans ce fil, car il y a déjà été questions des séries qui remplaceront les A320 (peut être un fil séparé sur ce sujet sera un jour utile ; ne pas hésiter à déplacer mon post, si vous pensez que cela serait mieux).
Nouvelle confirmation que les remplacements des A320 et B737 ne sont pas pour demain :
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/09/17/332442/no-a320-replacement-until-2024-airbus.html

Article très court, mais contenant une déclaration de John Leahy, qui considère qu'Airbus livrera encore des A320 en 2020, et Boeing des 737, et que le remplacement n'arrivera pas avant 2024.

Soit encore plus tard que ce qui était évoqué jusqu'à présent.

Petite opinion/idée personnelle : pour la remotoraisation, autant c'était un peu juste si la série suivante arrivait en 2020, car on voit mal la remotorisation arriver avant 2013 ou 2015, autant, si la série suivante arrive en 2024, on peut espérer voir une remotorisation de l'A320 (GTF, LeapX, nouvelle gén RR) :
- en dix ans de production, cela doit être amortissable ;
- d'autres appareils un peu plus petits vont se développer sur de telles bases (C-séries...) et pourraient prendre une part du marché conséquente à Airbus/Boeing si ceux-ci ne suivent pas, et que le baril remonte fort (on peut s'y attendre à la fin de la crise actuelle).

Bonne soirée,

Aeroelastic considerations
In a forward swept wing configuration, the aerodynamic lift produces a twisting force which rotates the wing leading edge upward. This results in a higher angle of attack, which increases lift, twisting the wing further. This aeroelastic divergence can quickly lead to structural failure. With conventional metallic construction, a torsionally very stiff wing would be required to resist twisting; stiffening the wing adds weight, which may make the design unfeasible.[6]

The X-29 design made use of the non-isotropic nature of the carbon fiber composite material to address this aeroelastic effect. Rather than using a very stiff wing, which would carry a weight penalty even with the relatively light-weight composite, the X-29 used a laminate which produced coupling between bending and torsion. As lift increases, bending loads force the wing tips to bend upward. Torsion loads attempt to twist the wing to higher angles of attack, but the coupling resists the loads, twisting the leading edge downward reducing wing angle of attack and lift. With lift reduced, the loads are reduced and divergence is avoided.[6]

Airbus to decide on A320 re-engine YE2010

September 28, 2009

Airbus expects to decide by the end of next year whether to re-engine the A320 family, CAO has learned.

A senior Airbus executive said the manufacturer is in discussions with Pratt & Whitney, CFM International, Rolls-Royce and the PW-RR partnership International Aero Engines.

Re-engining the A320 family is part of a shifting strategy to meet emerging competitors and a determination that a replacement airplane with required technological advancements needed to meet growing airline demands won’t be ready until the early part of the 2020 decade.

Boeing is also considering a re-engined 737, something that is more challenging given the “737 squat” much closer to the ground than the A320. This dramatically reduces the options for a new engine because of the diameter constraints.

John Leahy, Airbus COO-Customers, hinted at re-engined 737s and A320s being delivered to 2024, the new Airbus target date, in an interview with Flight International.

CAO not only confirmed the active Airbus study but learned the strategic thinking behind it. CAO has also learned that CFM International is prepared to accelerate its LEAP-X program, originally planned for a 2016 engine certification, followed by an EIS that was timed to coincide with a new 2018-2020 airframe.

China’s Comac wants to begin flight testing with its proposed 919 in 2014 with a 2016 EIS. CFM submitted proposals to Comac to power the airplane, including the LEAP-X engine. “If we are selected, we will absolutely meet the aircraft schedule requirements,” a CFM spokesperson told CAO on 24 September.

Airbus believes technology won’t converge until the 2020 decade to produce a 40% all-in gain in operating costs desired by airlines. At its Airbus Innovation Days in May, officials described these technologies as the open rotor engine’ goal of 25%-26% better fuel burn compared with today’s engines; significant advances in airframe design, better fuels and sharp improvements in navigation/air traffic control systems.

In the meantime, airlines want 10%-15% better fuel burn within the next five years or so. This can only be accomplished by re-engining the 737 and A320. Comac’s 919 and Bombardier’s CSeries propose airplanes that will have about a 16% improvement. The CSeries has Pratt & Whitney’s P1000G GTF engine and will compete with the 737-700 and A319. Comac’s 919 proposes a 150-200 seat airplane-directly competitive with the 737-800/900 and A320/321-also with a 16% better fuel burn compared with today’s aircraft.

Airbus is known to believe that re-engining the A320 family with a the PW GTF, the CFM LEAP-X or the Rolls-Royce three-stage engine will maintain competitiveness with emerging airplanes and meet airline demands for a step-improvement now rather than being forced to wait until the 2020 decade for game-changers. Entry-into-service (EIS) for a re-engined A320, if a go-ahead is achieved by year-end 2010, would be around 2015. Airbus believes a re-engined aircraft must be saleable for 7-8 years to amortise the development costs.

In the fourth quarter last year, PW said its research and development costs to develop a GTF engine big enough for the 737/A320 was $1 billion, and a four-year lead time was needed for EIS

Airbus, Boeing Study Engine Upgrade to Secure Single-Aisle Edge


By Andrea Rothman

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. said they are considering whether to upgrade their most popular jets with different engines to cut fuel consumption and buy time to design all-new successors.

“Is it feasible to re-engine the 737?” Boeing marketing chief Randy Tinseth told visitors of an aerospace conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, that ended yesterday. “The answer is yes. It’s a question of what the customer needs, and what makes sense from an investment point of view.”

Chicago-based Boeing and Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, have a combined 4,500 in back orders for their best-selling Airbus 320s and Boeing 737s, and successors won’t be available before 2020 at the earliest. Clients such as Qatar Airways Ltd. are pressuring Airbus and Boeing to rework the jets as airlines consider alternatives from rivals including Bombardier Inc.

Airbus and Boeing are fighting to defend their dominance in the single-aisle jet market because the models finance development of larger planes. Engine makers including General Electric Co. and Pratt & Whitney say they could make a turbofan available as soon as 2016 that would cut fuel consumption and noise. Redesigning the planes to accommodate the engine would cost a fraction of the $10 billion to create an all-new model.

Industry Workhorse

Single-aisle jets, with 100 to 200 seats, have been the industry’s workhorses for decades. Boeing and Airbus combined have delivered more than 9,000 narrow-body planes since the first Boeing 737 hit the market in 1967. Airbus sales chief John Leah said last month that it may not offer a successor to the A320 until 2024. Boeing has earmarked its next model for 2020.

“Anything’s possible,” said Andrew Gordon, the Airbus director of market analysis, in an interview at the Dubrovnik conference. “We have to think about what’s best for our customers, and what’s best for the environment. Timing will be important.”

Pratt & Whitney’s so-called geared turbofan model for single-aisle models features a geared fan that spins independently of the main turbine. Pratt claims the model offers about 15 greater fuel advantage over current engines.

A plane with a reworked engine typically requires modifications to the pylon that connects wing and engine, as well as to air ducts, fuel lines, cabling, landing gear and hydraulics. Boeing may struggle to accommodate a different engine under its 737 because the wings sit lower to the ground than those of the A320.

Lower Costs

The cost to planemakers would be less than a tenth of designing a new model, which occupies thousands of engineers for several years to build the new type from scratch. Upgrading an existing model with a new engine would instead function “partly as a band-aid solution to buy some more time,” said Steven Udvar-Hazy, chief executive of International Lease Finance Corp., the world’s largest aircraft lessor.

To be sure, re-fitting a plane has its risks. A fleet that mixes planes with traditional and new engines creates additional costs for parts and mechanics. A revamped version may prove to be financially attractive only for a decade, until the two companies bring out their all-new models, Hazy said.

Airbus flight tested the Pratt engine last year to evaluate the technology. A unit of United Technologies Corp., Pratt so far only offers its geared fan for the Bombardier C-Series model and Mitsubishi Corp.’s regional jet, neither of which fly commercially yet. It supplies standard engines to the A320 family through a venture it leads with Rolls-Royce Group Plc.

‘Significant Benefit’

“We believe our technology would offer significant benefit for re-engined A320 and 737 aircraft should Airbus and Boeing decide to pursue them,” said Edward Kokoszka, general manager for Pratt’s commercial engines in Europe.

Boeing’s 737 model is only available with CFM56 engines by CFM International, GE’s joint venture with Safran SA of France. GE’s technology would be sold in a CFM engine through the venture and would be available in the 2015-2016 timeframe. Airbus’s A320 family offers a choice of the CFM56 or the V2500 by International Aero Engines, a venture led by Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce, each of which owns about a third.

Oil prices are another critical component of the equation. At about $70 a barrel, the economic tradeoff between more fuel efficiency and greater costs in having a mixed fleet of engines will likely prompt airlines to stick with existing designs.

If oil returns to levels of $100 a barrel, the 15 percent to 20 percent fuel-efficiency gains would more than balance out additional costs of having two different engine types.

Cracking Duopoly

Now that Bombardier plans to enter the market for single- aisle planes, the duopoly that Boeing and Airbus enjoyed for years is under threat. Bombardier’s C-Series, which will seat 110 to 130 passengers, has attracted airlines including Qatar Air, the state-owned carrier with more than 150 Boeing and Airbus planes on order, including A320 models.

“If it were in my hands I would make sure that Airbus launched it sooner rather than later,” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar al-Baker said of a reworked Airbus A320 model, during a flight from London to Doha on Oct. 12. “This development would put them at least 10 years ahead of the competition on the single-aisle aircraft and most definitely kill the C-Series program.”

Steve Aliment, vice president for European sales at Bombardier, said the C-Series offers operating benefits that would still surpass those of a modified A320 or equivalent Boeing plane. For example, the Bombardier model is 10 tons lighter than the smallest Airbus model, the A318, he said.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s head of fleet management, Nico Buchholz, said airlines are closely watching the concept of re- fitting planes. Germany’s largest airline is the biggest customer for Bombardier’s C-Series, with 15 units on order of the plane that will enter service in 2013.

“We are pushing the manufacturers to improve,” he said.

L'industrie aéronautique française s'active pour faire voler un avion moins polluant

Sur cinq à six ans, l'industrie aéronautique française veut obtenir 800 millions d'euros pour compléter ses recherches sur les avions qui verront le jour à partir de 2020 et compte sur le grand emprunt pour financer ses travaux. Cette somme est jugée "raisonnable", au vu de l'enjeu que constitue le maintien de l'avance technologique française face à l'émergence d'une industrie russe et chinoise, a souligné, jeudi 8 octobre, le directeur général d'Airbus, Fabrice Brégier, devant l'Association des journalistes professionnels de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (AJPAE). Russes et Chinois ont en effet décidé de s'attaquer au duopole Airbus-Boeing sur le créneau des avions moyens courriers, de 110 à 220 sièges, qu'ils se partagent avec l'A320 et le 737.

L'objectif est de disposer, à l'horizon 2015, de technologies de rupture, permettant des gains de performance importants pour creuser l'écart avec les nouveaux entrants. Elles seront intégrées sur le successeur de l'A320 attendu à partir de 2020 . "Nous ne pouvons pas nous permettre de rater ce programme", a souligné le numéro deux d'Airbus, les moyens courriers étant les avions les plus vendus. Sur le plan environnemental, il s'agit de s'adapter aux engagements européens concernant le transport aérien à l'horizon 2020. Ceux-ci visent à réduire de 50 % la consommation de carburants, de 80 % les émissions de monoxydes d'azote et de 50 % le bruit. D'ici à 2030, 25 000 appareils supplémentaires doivent être livrés, soit un doublement de la flotte mondiale.
Alléger les appareils

Les travaux sont menés sous l'égide du Conseil pour la recherche aéronautique civile (Corac), une instance regroupant tous les acteurs du transport aérien créée, voici un an, dans le cadre du Grenelle de l'environnement. Ce conseil a répertorié les besoins et coordonne les travaux. "C'est le chaînon manquant pour atteindre nos objectifs, explique M. Brégier, également président du Corac. Nous allons ainsi pouvoir tester des technologies sur des démonstrateurs."

Les recherches sont menées en commun par Airbus, Eurocopter, Dassault Aviation, Thales et Safran, auxquels seront associés d'autres équipementiers et sous-traitants au fur et à mesure des développements.

Les recherches portent sur les nouveaux matériaux permettant d'alléger le poids des avions. Elles concernent aussi la voilure, l'avion tout électrique, le carburant et la motorisation.

L'évolution principale dépend des motoristes. Safran, par exemple, travaille sur deux types de moteurs. Le premier, appelé Leap-X, vise à réduire de 16 % la consommation. L'autre, plus ambitieux, dit "open rotor" (hélices rapides), permettrait un gain de 25 % et ferait faire un saut technologique important.

En attendant de définir son nouveau moyen courrier, Airbus continue de moderniser ses A320, tout comme son rival Boeing, qui prépare pour la même période le remplacement de son 737.
Si les avions, à l'horizon 2020, auront sensiblement la même physionomie que ceux volant actuellement, ils seront peut être plus gros et transporteront plus de passagers. En raison de leurs poids, les réacteurs dits "open rotor" ne seront pas fixés sous les ailes mais sur l'arrière du fuselage .

A plus long terme, l'avion pourrait avoir une toute autre physionomie et un projet d'aile volante - un appareil ergonomique - pouvant transporter plus de 800 passagers est envisagé. Toutes les idées sont étudiées. Le Corac devrait allouer 10 % du budget vers des concepts innovants. "On peut avoir des professeurs Nimbus qui auront de bonnes idées", imagine M. Brégier.

Dominique Gallois

Narrow margins: Airbus and Boeing face pressure with the A320 and 737
By Max Kingsley-Jones

Although pressure has been mounting on Airbus and Boeing to move forward with their plans for single-aisle replacement designs, the rivals have been more concerned with developing their current programmes.

This is no surprise, given that between them, they have an order backlog for around 4,500 narrowbodies, split roughly 50/50, which at current rates will keep production running until 2015. But a new rival from Bombardier, the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G GTF-powered CSeries small airliner, is threatening the bottom end of the two established single-aisle families.

Boeing - in conjunction with CFM International - has upped the ante this year, rolling out a wide-ranging 737 upgrade package to boost performance and cabin comfort. Airbus, meanwhile, continues to make incremental improvements to the A320 family, addressing weight reductions and operating weight increases amid ongoing studies of a winglet programme.

Airbus is evaluating a re-engined A320 which could look something like this

Both programmes have reached important milestones this year, with Boeing delivering the 6,000th 737 (a 737-800 for Norwegian Air Shuttle, which was also the 2,868th 737 NG delivered), and Airbus handing over its 4,000th A320 family aircraft - an A319 for TAM. During the third quarter, Boeing also quietly shipped its 3,000th Next Generation 737.

The 737 performance improvement package (PIP) will arrive in mid-2011, delivering about a 2% cut in fuel burn on longer stages. It comprises the CFM56-7B Evolution powerplant providing a 1% improvement in overall aircraft efficiency, and a minor clean-up of the airframe's aerodynamics giving a further 1% gain.

EVOLUTION FLIGHT TRIALS

Flight trials of the CFM56-7B Evolution nacelle began in the number one (left-hand) position of a 737-900ER in August, with the test engine featuring a longer nacelle than the standard -7B.

Ahead of the PIP, a new cabin, dubbed the Sky Interior, will be introduced including features such as larger 777/787-style pivot bins, sculpted sidewalls and revised windows. The new interior, which Boeing hopes will deliver a 2-4dB cut in cabin noise, is due to enter service with FlyDubai in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Although Airbus views the 737 package as a catch-up move by its rival, it confesses that it is "talking with CFM" to see what of the CFM56-7B Evolution package is transferable to the A320's CFM56-5. Unlike the 737, however, the A320 models (except the A318) are also offered with the International Aero Engines V2500, meaning that Airbus will need to encourage both parties to pursue engine upgrades to ensure performance parity across the family.

With the 2,400 aircraft on backlog representing over six years of production, Airbus expects output will run for at least another decade and ultimately deliver more than 8,000 aircraft.


Joe Walker
Flight trials of the CFM56-7B Evolution nacelle began in the number one (left-hand) position of a 737-900ER in August


While Airbus has not announced any major new upgrade in response to the 737 PIP, an ongoing airframe weight saving effort should trim 250kg off A320s delivered from 2010, while more aerodynamic cleaning up means that aircraft delivered from January 2009 have a 1% improvement in drag standard.

This year, approval was given for an optional 1t increase in MTOW, achieved through a software upgrade to the flight-control system, which is retrofittable to A320-200s from MSN1903 (a 2002-delivered aircraft) onwards. The higher weight provides around 280km (150nm) additional range or a payload increase equivalent to 10 passengers.

An innovative new use for an A320 variant began in September when British Airways inaugurated A318 transatlantic services from London City airport to New York. To gain approval for operations into the tight London City runway, Airbus has developed changes to the flight controls on approach that are activated by a switch in the overhead panel. This allows the aircraft to have a different aerodynamic braking system for approach and touchdown.

Airbus is staying quiet on its plans for an A320 winglet programme after completing another round of test flights this year. However, Airbus sources say that it has decided to go ahead with a programme, but is yet to finalise whether to adopt Aviation Partners' design or its own "sharklet" device.

Looking towards the long term, there is little enthusiasm on either side of the Atlantic to move forward with all-new replacements, as neither airframer can yet see the requisite quantum leaps in airframe and engine technology.

Airbus's chief salesman John Leahy is confident that A320 and 737s will still be in production a decade from now, although concedes that this could be with "a different engine".

All the big-three engine makers have suitable new technology programmes under way. P&W leads the pack with its geared turbofan, which is due to enter service in 2013 on the Mitsubishi MRJ regional jet and the CSeries. CFM International is developing the Leap X turbofan/open rotor for service readiness from 2016, while Rolls-Royce is exploring developments.

Airbus is expected to decide whether to launch a re-engining upgrade for the A320 before the end of 2010 for a service entry in around 2015, with the GTF seen as a leading candidate. Boeing chief executive Jim McNerney has said he believes a re-engined narrowbody is viable in the near term and that a derivative re-engined 737 would cost in the range of 20-30% of a full development programme.

As a result, he says, "the re-engine case is stronger than I anticipated it would be, which doesn't mean that's what we'll decide". CFM has indicated it could accelerate the Leap X schedule - set for certification in 2016 - should it be selected to power China's new C919 airliner, which would open the door for Boeing to consider the engine for any 737 upgrade.

One of the drivers behind the two rivals' reluctance to be the first to blink is that their sales performance in the sector is fairly evenly matched. Last year, Airbus racked up 472 A320 family orders, and delivered 386 aircraft, while Boeing's 737 sales stood at 484 and deliveries at 290 (strike affected). In 2009 the 737 has a slight edge on its rival at the nine-month point with 71 net orders against 47 for the A320.

Deliveries are evenly matched, with Airbus having shipped 290 single-aisles and Boeing 280. Included in the Airbus shipments is the first A320 off the new Chinese assembly line in Tianjin, which is ultimately expected to produce four single-aisle aircraft a month.

SINGAPORE 2010: Airbus aiming for A320 re-engining decision by Farnborough air show
By Max Kingsley-Jones

Airbus is aiming to decide whether to launch an A320 family re-engining programme by the Farnborough air show in July, for service entry from the end of 2015.

Speaking at the Singapore air show, the airframer's chief operating officer customers John Leahy said that the airframer had told customers that it will make a decision on the proposed upgrade this year, and hopes for an early decision. "Ideally I'd like to have it sorted out by the Farnborough air show," he says.

The upgrade will be offered as an option across the A319, A320 and A321 models, says Leahy, who repeats his aim to have new engine offerings from the two incumbent suppliers CFM International and International Aero Engines. While CFM has its Leap X advanced turbofan, Leahy says the latter "appears" to be planning to offer a "new generation" of the geared turbofan being developed by IAE partner Pratt & Whitney.


"These engines would be available by the end of 2015, and the target would be 15% lower fuel burn per seat," he adds.

Leahy says that Airbus plans to offer the re-engining as "an option if the operator wanted it. This would put the all-new single-aisle airplane, what we call the A30X, off to the middle of the next decade, around 2024."

Airbus pledges defense against CSeries encroachment

Airbus will defend its presence in the under-150-seat market targeted by Bombardier with its CSeries, Head of Marketing Communications Alan Pardoe said yesterday. Speaking at the 24th Annual SpeedNews Commercial Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., Pardoe noted that an aircraft seating 138 passengers, the configuration chosen by Republic Airways in its recent order for up to 80 CSeries 300s, directly impinges on the A319 market (ATWOnline, Feb. 26). Drawing an analogy between Airbus and the Chinese Year of the Tiger, which began last month, Pardoe said, "the Tiger is not going to let anyone steal a part of its business." Later, in response to a question concerning the challenge posed by the Bombardier product, he joked, "the Tiger is awake and looking at you and he could be getting hungry."
Also during the conference, Teal Group VP-Analysis Richard Aboulafia said he expects Republic's order will hasten plans by Airbus and Boeing to update their respective narrowbody offerings. "Any doubts that I had that a 737/A320 re-engining decision wouldn't take place this year. . .is taken care of by the Republic CSeries order. There are people who say Boeing and Airbus will be happy to give up the 130-seat segment. I doubt it. That's a key part of their volume output. They have no choice but to fight back, to re-engine what they already have," he said.

Qatar's Al-Baker believes A320 re-engining announcement imminent

By Siva Govindasamy

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker expects Airbus to shortly "make an
important announcement" on the re-engining of the A320, and believes
that supplier International Aero Engines will offer the PW1000 geared
turbofan produced by partner Pratt & Whitney. "I believe
that Airbus is going to make an important announcement this month,"
says Al-Baker. "And I think they will come up with a programme similar
to the [Bombardier] C-Series and install the GTF engine." Airbus
has said that it plans to make a decision on the re-engining by the
Farnborough Airshow in July. If it goes ahead, it will offer the
upgrade as an option across the A319, A320 and A321 models with new
engine offerings from the two incumbent suppliers CFM International and
IAE. Qatar will also decide on whether it will order the
C-Series, which already comes with the PW1000, by Farnborough, says
Al-Baker. The carrier re-opened talks with Bombardier late last year on
the aircraft, after earlier negotiations fell through, and is
reportedly interested in the 130-seat variant. "There are a few
issues to overcome and then we will make up our mind before
Farnborough. These are commercial issues, discussions on certain
commercial terms. If we are going that way, yes, it will be by that
time," says Al-Baker. "The onus is on Bombardier."

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/03/08/339200/qatars-al-baker-believes-a320-re-engining-announcement.html

The Airbus board is marching toward a decision by the end of April on whether to re-engine its A320 family, said its chief salesman, Chief Operating Officer-Commercial John Leahy.

Leahy hastened from a meeting in Orlando today of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Traders to fly to Toulouse for an Airbus board meeting Tuesday, but he stressed the company was still more than a month from making a decision on what will be its next big program, after the A350 and A380. “We have 14-15 engineers working on the move right now,” he said.

“If we do it, it will be just an engine option,” he stressed of any A320 family upgrade. Airbus is committed to continuing to offer engine choices from International Aero Engines and CFM International, as it does now with the V2500- and CFM56-series on its A319/320/321 family.

Leahy noted that CFM is moving forward on its LEAP-X successor to the CFM56, so it’s position as a candidate is secure with Airbus.

But Leahy also reiterated what he said at last November’s Dubai Air Show, that while Airbus is interested in the geared turbofan design that Pratt & Whitney is developing in its PW1000-series, the airplane maker will not accept it as a stand-alone engine from Pratt.

Instead, it wants Pratt and Rolls-Royce, IAE’s two principal partners, to sort out what new technology the partnership will offer as a replacement engine. Rolls is committed to a new center-line engine, the RB285/RB282 and, so far, neither it nor Pratt is budging on which of them should lead the technology development.

Pratt President David Hess told analysts last week that his company’s position has not changed: it is ready to go it alone on the GTF design, but prefers to work within IAE. Leahy’s comments, therefore, put new pressure on Rolls and Pratt to come to an agreement.

Todd Kallman, head of P&W Commercial, told the crowd that P&W wanted to be the “groom” at that marriage. Asked whether Rolls-Royce and P&W might combine their technologies, he said they had “worked together in the past” so they presumably could again.

Leahy said that so far “no show stoppers” have emerged to prevent a relatively low-cost conversion of the existing A320 family with new engines. Airbus engineers have determined that the wing will have to be strengthened, since the new engines are expected to weigh about 800 lb. more. Issues such as landing gear design are still being studied, he said.

He also emphasized that only new engines are being considered – no cockpits, or other upgrades. Leahy also threw cold water on the prospect of Airbus opting any time soon on an all-new replacement for its A320 family, saying technologies for airframe, avionics and engines necessary to assure that such an aircraft can remain competitive for another 30-40 years have not emerged.

“I guarantee, if you bring out an all-new airplane in something like 2017 or 2018, you will be using existing technology and that airplane won’t last for 30-40 years,” he said.

By Rachel Layne and Andrea Rothman

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS, deciding whether to replace the engines on its best-selling A320 jets with more fuel-efficient ones, is debating whether it would be too expensive and not save enough to satisfy airline customers.

“Even inside Airbus, you have people saying, ‘Why spend money when we are earning so much money with the current airplane?’” Louis Gallois, chief executive officer of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., said at a New York briefing with reporters yesterday. “It’s a bestseller,” he said, so the choice “is not an easy one.”

Airbus and Boeing Co., whose respective A320 and 737 models dominate the commercial aerospace market, say they will decide this year whether to offer existing models with new engines that are about 15 percent more fuel efficient than current ones. The planemakers risk lowering the value of their total backlog of 4,500 narrow-body aircraft by putting better- performing versions on the market.

Still, it would give the two a product to compete with jets being developed by smaller rivals including Bombardier Inc. and China’s state-owned company, Comac, until they introduce their own all-new narrow-body planes. Bombardier’s CSeries and Comac’s C919 would offer engines that may boost fuel efficiency 15 percent, and Toulouse, France-based Airbus and Chicago-based Boeing have said they won’t sell new narrow-body models until the mid-2020s.

Some customers want a new plane sooner. US Airways Group Inc. will begin taking delivery of 54 Airbus aircraft by 2013 and doesn’t expect planes with the new engines to be available by then, said James Olson, a spokesman for the airline.

Justifying the Cost

“It’s up to the manufacturers to figure out whether they can put an engine on that can produce the savings required to justify the higher purchasing cost to airlines,” Olson said.

Replacing engines on current Boeing and Airbus models may not reach optimum efficiency because the combination would be heavier than an all-new plane. That might reduce improvement to less than 10 percent while the plane would still cost more than current models because of the new technology.

“If the CSeries does what it is supposed do, then a re- engined 737NG or A320 isn’t a good enough response,” said Hal Calamvokis, strategic planning manager at EasyJet Plc, which flies mainly Airbus A319s.

While EasyJet is having “ongoing discussions with Bombardier,” the CSeries’ current maximum capacity of 145 passengers is too small to meet the airline’s needs and its range is greater than the Luton, England-based company requires, Calamvokis said.

The A320 and 737 both seat as many as 200 passengers, depending on the model.

‘Full Evaluation’

If Montreal-based Bombardier stretches the CSeries and expands its seating to accommodate about 165 passengers, its range would decrease and the aircraft might work for EasyJet.

“At that point, we’d definitely have to do a full evaluation,” Calamvokis said.

Competition from the CSeries on the smallest versions of Airbus’s narrow-body planes, the A318 and A319, as well as China’s planned plane, is a factor in the company’s decision, Gallois said.

“Airlines will have a reference for engines, and they could consider that we may not have the best engines” on current narrow-body planes, Gallois said. “It could push us. On the other side, we also have to take into consideration the cost of re-engineing and amortizing the life of the airplane. And we have to see what kind of difference in price we have between that and the new airplane.”

Narrow-body Engine Market

Executives and analysts estimate redesigning an existing airframe to support a new engine would cost $1 billion, compared with $10 billion to develop a new plane. The market for a new, more fuel-efficient engine over the life of a narrow-body aircraft may be as much as $50 billion, manufacturers have forecast.

Bombardier’s CSeries, which will debut Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan engine, is slated to enter the market in 2013. Comac’s C919, with new engines from CFM International, is scheduled to arrive in 2016.

CFM, a venture of Fairfield, Connecticut-based General Electric Co. and Paris-based Safran SA, has said its Leap-X engine will boost fuel efficiency about 15 percent, similar to the improvement in Pratt & Whitney’s power plant.

Current Airbus models offer a choice of engines made by CFM or International Aero Engines, a venture led by Pratt & Whitney and London-based Rolls-Royce Group Plc. Current Boeing 737 models only offer CFM engines.

Pratt, Rolls-Royce

While Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have yet to decide how to market a more efficient narrow-body engine, they said they prefer to do so through the IAE partnership in order to compete with CFM.

John Leahy, Airbus’s chief operating officer, said at a conference in Orlando this week the company only wants to offer engines for an upgrade via the two teams.

Airbus has said it may target 2024 for an all-new aircraft to enter service.

“We would like to know what choices are available to us at what periods of time,” said Mike Van de Ven, chief operating officer of Southwest Airlines Co., whose fleet is made up solely of Boeing 737s. Boeing is “going to have to have a product choice that competes” with Bombardier’s new model and a potential upgrade from Airbus, he said.

Boeing will consider technical and business vantage points before making its decision, Randy Tinseth, the company’s marketing chief, said in an interview this week.

‘What Our Customers Want’

“It’s more important that we look less at competition and more at what our customers want,” Tinseth said. “We want to have a plan at the end of the year, but doing nothing is always an option. Re-engineing is an option, and a new airplane is an option.”

EADS climbed 15 cents to close at 14.83 euros in Paris trading, and the shares have gained 5.3 percent this year. Boeing gained 59 cents to $71.46 at 2:17 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

--With assistance from Gopal Ratnam in Washington, Susanna Ray in Seattle and Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas. Editors: James Langford, Kevin Orland, Will Daley

Airbus prépare en secret son futur A30X pour succéder à l'A320

EADS-Airbus a récemment présenté l'évolution prévue de la famille A320, de l'ajout d'ailettes réalisé actuellement à une nouvelle motorisation dans quelques années avant un tout nouveau modèle, l'A30X d'ici quinze ans.

Le voile se lève peu à peu sur les projets d'Airbus, la grande filiale du groupe européen d'aéronautique, d'espace et d'armement EADS, pour préparer la succession de son best seller l'A320 de 150 places.
Le nom de code du projet est connu : A30X. Il a été rappelé ces derniers jours par un député allemand dans le cadre des discussions sur les aides publiques au programme d'Airbus A350, qui doit concurrencer le Boeing B787, et lors des commentaires sur le différend américano-européen devant l'OMC (organisation mondiale du commerce) concernant les soutiens financiers publics à leurs deux avionneurs respectifs.
Cette dénomination A30X a aussi été employée par les dirigeants d'EADS et d'Airbus dans le cadre d'une récente réunion avec les investisseurs sur l'avenir et les projets de l'entreprise. Sur une planche présentée par le directeur commercial d'Airbus, John Leahy, on voit l'évolution du programme A320 avec les récentes améliorations apportées (ajout d'ailettes supplémentaires en bout de voilure pour réduire la consommation), les projets pour optimiser dans quelques années l'avion avec des moteurs plus performants - le Leap X de CFM International, alliance du français Snecma-Safran et de l'américain General Electric voire un réacteur concurrent de Pratt & Whitney, - puis, dans une quinzaine d'années, un nouvel appareil avec des réacteurs en queue de fuselage voire des réacteurs à hélices (openrotor ou propfan), là encore pour mieux respecter l'environnement.
L'A30X est présenté sur cette planche en deux versions, à la fois pour souligner les différentes motorisations envisageables mais aussi parce que comme La Tribune l'avait révélé, deux fuselages sont à l'étude et pourraient cohabiter : un mono couloir et un bicouloir, le premier ayant plutôt les faveurs des Allemands qui veulent le produire à Hambourg, le second des Français qui voudraient le fabriquer à Toulouse et estiment que c'est là qu'est l'avenir pour accélerer les temps d'embarquement et de débarquement des passagers, clé de la rentabilité d'un vol et la multiplication des fréquences, notamment pour les compagnies aériennes low cost.
D'ailleurs, Louis Gallois, le président exécutif du groupe EADS, interrogé par La Tribune, n'avait pas nié l'hypothèse de deux versions indiquant que selon ses informations, Boieng lui aussi planchait sur deux versions pour remplacer dans le futur son B737.
Reste que ni Airbus, ni Boeing ne sont pressés : leurs A320 et B737 continuent à très bien se vendre. ils sont mêmes les deux appareils les plus vendus de toute l'histoire de l'aéronautique civile. Alors pourquoi tuer la poule aux oeufs d'or tant qu'elle continue à pondre ?