Airbus is showcasing its twin-engine A350-1000 at the Singapore Airshow this week, as it looks to garner more interest in the company's latest wide-body aircraft.
This is the first time the 366-seat jetliner - a longer variant of the 325-seat A350-900 which has already been flown commercially - has come to Singapore.
Airbus said in a press conference yesterday that it has received 169 orders for the twin-aisle A350-1000 from 11 customers, including Japan Airlines, British Airways and Etihad, as of December last year.
With a range of 14,750km and more seats, the aircraft is ideal for busy long-haul routes for carriers in the booming Asia-Pacific market, Airbus said.
"We see an exploding transpacific market. A lot of people are willing to fly between the American continent - it is not limited to North America - and Asia. This is where the trend is. This is exactly what the A350-1000 is designed to do," Airbus marketing director Francois Obe told reporters at the Singapore Airshow.
Singapore Airlines is currently the biggest customer of the aircraft's sibling, the A350-900, with 67 orders, of which 20 planes are in operation.
Singapore is the seventh stop of a "world tour" on which Airbus is taking its A350-1000 test aircraft. It has also showcased the plane - with a fully functional cabin - in cities such as Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei. After Singapore, the plane will be flown to Bangkok, Sydney, Auckland, Tokyo and Manila.
More than 50 per cent of its airframe is composite material, making it lighter. Airbus touts it as burning 25 per cent less fuel than a competitor's equivalent model.
But the A350-1000 is off to a bumpy start, with the delivery to launch customer Qatar Airways delayed from late last year to later this month. The delay is due to issues with installing the business-class seats, which have a more complex configuration required by the airline, said a Reuters report.
Asked about the delay, Mr Obe said: "It is not up to us to release delivery dates, it is traditionally a privilege of the customer. What we want is to deliver an aircraft that really meets the high level of expectations of Qatar Airways."
Last year, Cathay Pacific and United Airlines swopped initial orders of the A350-1000 in favour of the A350-900 variant.
An analysis by the Capa Centre for Aviation attributed this to several reasons, including airlines becoming risk-adverse and opting for smaller aircraft, as well as competition from existing Boeing 777s and new 777Xs.
Still, Capa said the Airbus plane "could see a surge of orders in the coming years for new growth and as airlines get closer to (the) replacement of existing aircraft".
The A350-1000 is on static display at the Singapore Airshow until Thursday.
