Airbus A350 XWB Versus the Boeing 787 Dream liner
If you saw the statistics for Airbus latest family addition, the A350 XWB (extra Wide Body) passenger airplane, you would probably confuse it with the American rival, the Boeing 787 Dream liner. It will probably take the flying public years to be able to distinguish the aircraft in the air, or even when they are inside the cabin.
The Boeing 787 is made from 50 per cent carbon fiber; while the Airbus A350 is 53 per cent carbon fiber. Both will be long range and can fly in excess of 8,000 miles without refueling. In effect, flying the long thin routes, Being somewhat bigger, the A350 will have anywhere between 300-400 seats, while the Boeing 787′s biggest model will barely reach 300 seats. Both come in three different size models although the smaller version of the 787 may be dropped based on comments from Boeing.
Airbus indicates the A350 will reduce fuel consumption by 25 per cent. The Airbus is bundled as a replacement for any Boeing 747 operator due to it’s size. The Boeing 787 claims to deliver 15 per cent better fuel efficiency over the similarly-sized Boeing 767 and so it should, considering it is introduced 25 years after the Boeing 767.
The Airbus A350 has 505 orders from 32 customers while the Boeing 787 has 876 orders from 53 customers.
The A350 windows are wider; the 787′s are taller. The list continues.
When comparing the two airplanes, there are major differences between the two.
The A350 cockpit is one area that will distinguish it as a more modern airliner. The cockpit will have six large LCD displays that provide all the necessary pilot information. For comparison the A380 has 10. The A380 has been the testing bed for this new technology. These electronics in the cockpit have been found to reduce the need for the many individual circuit breakers. The circuit breakers have in the past been an issue for airliners and caused various accidents.
