Engineering News

European planemaker Airbus does not yet see any need to change the electrical architecture of its latest design, the A350 XWB airliner, because of problems now being suffered by US rival Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. This was made clear on Thursday by company president and CEO Fabrice Brégier, responding to a question at the yearly Airbus press conference in Toulouse, France (webcast worldwide).

The Boeing 787 has been grounded in a number of regions over safety concerns regarding its use of lithium ion batteries. (See story elsewhere on Engineering News Online.) The A350, which has yet to fly, will also use lithium ion batteries.

“We went through discussions with the regulatory agencies  – EASA [European Aviation Safety Agency] and FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] – and they seemed happy with the [A350 electrical] architecture,” he said. “Regarding the A350, we’re in the development phase. We will have many opportunities to change things. With regard to the electric architecture, we see, unless we receive new information, no need to change the architecture.”

“Both Boeing and Airbus give the same priority to safety,” affirmed Brégier. “There is the FAA decision [to ground the 787] which confirms that air transport is one of the safest forms of transport around the world.”

Regarding the A350 programme, he reported that the company was focused on achieving maturity not only of the aircraft but also of the avionics and other systems. There had been some problems with implementing the new automated system for the manufacture of the wings and with some subcontractors.

Nevertheless, last year had seen good progress, with the final assembly line becoming fully operational and the completion and “electrical power on” of the first flying example of the aircraft. Brégier also reported that the engine that will power the A350, the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB, should be certified soon. Everything, he said, was moving towards the aircraft’s first flight, which should be by the middle of this year.