In Farnborough International Airshow, Airbus has been talking about a further stretch of the A350, dubbed the -2000. The aircraft would be about the same size as the Boeing 777-9X (it has a capability of about 407 passengers), but its typical layout is likely to have around 30 fewer seats than his competitor. Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier indicated in a recent interview that the -2000 would be a relatively simple stretch of the -1000. If that were the case, the aircraft would likely lose some range over the smaller version.
The chief commercial officer for customers John Leahy had discussed positively in early March of 2016, but still some concerns about this project, like the possibility this model could cannibalise demand for the 350-seat A350-1000 already in development.
If the stretched “A350-2000” is eventually dropped from consideration, it would not be the first time a new project or major derivative faded from certain-launch to historical footnote: other examples include Boeing’s Sonic Cruiser and a stretched A380-900. It seems that main problems for Airbus and Boeing is to deliver products on time with the promised performance and the right price. The customers have done their part, filling a combined backlog with more than 12000 firm orders. But Airbus and Boeing are struggling to meet their deals, as a new project with the ramp-up has exposed the supply chain at some significative retard, limiting schedules and raising unexpected technical problems. And thus for Airbus and Boeing would be wise to regroup and rally around executing their existing commitments. They will continue to talk about launching new major variants,but probably it will not be enough to persuade airlines to buy, and manufacturers require projects that don’t cause too much financial or technical deviations.