Airbus, Boeing win big new orders from Singapore Airlines

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http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2013/05/31/airbus-wins-big-new-a350-order-from-singapore-airlines/

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Singapore Airlines (SIA) has made its third and largest order for Airbus A350 airliners.

In a statement, Airbus said that SIA has announced that it will will purchase 30 more Airbus A350-900s plus options for a further 20 aircraft.

SIA has also committed to 30 of the third version of the Boeing Dreamliner family, the 787-10X, which is expected to enter service toward the end of this decade.

Both airliners make considerable use of composite materials in their pressurisation cycle sensitive load bearing components albeit differently in order to exploit their potential for weight saving.

For passengers, the important question will be what Singapore Airlines does in its main cabin in both jets. The 787 Dreamliners at a nine across format in economy are anything but ‘dreamy’ compared to the same number of seats in the cabin of an A350 across its wider dimensions.

Most 787 customers have ordered the jet with the un-dreamy like higher density format, which will ensure that long haul flight in such jets is an ordeal in seats every bit as uncomfortable as the tiny torture tubes in a short haul 737.

However in the 8 across standard cabin format Boeing originally proposed for the 787s the result is very different and notably more amenable compared to 9 across in Boeing’s own cabin simulator in Seattle. This configuration is also being flown in JAL and ANA Dreamliners today on longer distance routes.