Airbus plans new A350 to fly Singapore-US non-stop, again

SINGAPORE: Airbus Group's airliner unit is working on a new variant of its A350-900 wide-body that would allow Singapore Airlines to restore non-stop US flights and regain the record for the world's longest airline sector.
Airbus, which began deliveries of the twin-engine model last year, is working on changes to the cabin layout that would reduce the aircraft's weight and let Singapore Airlines reach New York economically by 2018, said Kiran Rao, the planemaker's executive vice-president for strategy and marketing.

Singapore Air halted nearly 19-hour direct flights from its home hub to New York in 2013, adding about five hours to the journey with stop overs. Chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong said in June there was no commercially viable jet available and that he was pushing both Air bus and Boeing for proposals.

Rao said the A350 should be able to make the trip with 25% less fuel burn than older models, at the expense of a less dense layout than the usual 325-seat, three-class 900, which could be available “an awful lot quicker than Boeing.“

The US manufacturer could offer a development of its 787-9 Dreamliner for extended operations if it wants to compete in that area, according to Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia. “Market potential is pretty small, but it's prestigious," he said. Several other airlines have expressed an interest in such a variant, Rao said. “I can't go into details on the type of layouts they're looking at but it would be a premium service," he said.