Airbus A350: What’s an A350ULR?

This video is about Airbus A350 and a short documentary style analysis about the A350ULR. What exactly does ULR in the Airbus A350ULR name mean? What is Airbus’s definition of the term ULR? How would an ULR be different from a standard A350? With Qantas expected to choose between Airbus and Boeing for their project sunrise, Airbus has proposed an upgrade of its A350-1000. While many speculate that this would be in the form of a ULR similar to the Singapore A350ULR, Airbus instead launched a simple upgrade allowing for higher maximum takeoff weights and didn’t include the acronym ULR in the name. Which begs the question again, what does Airbus mean exactly with these three letters, ULR? Well, watch this epic aviation analysis to find out!

#a350xwb #a350 #airbusa350

[luca]

I personally spoke to one of the Airbus engineers that worked on the wing of the XWB at an event about flight test campaign of this very aircraft about a month ago...
First question I asked was if the A350-1000ULR is real, and he literally replied "we MIGHT have been studying minor aerodynamic refinements, we MIGHT have been studying weight optimisations here and there in the fuselage, we MIGHT have been studying some wing efficiency improvements, we MIGHT have asked RR for some slight engine software control & materials tweaks, we MIGHT have discussed a larger center tank designed to utilise 100% of the space around the landing gear bay...so we MIGHT come out with said plane..."
Basically, they already know where to act and improve on, they're justing waiting for the go ahead. It's all on Qantas now
The real deal for me is that:
1) Qantas would have to pay the variant's development cost, that whilst not immense, it's still considerable, or order a high number of planes (not just A350s, perhaps some more A320neo for Jetstar or A330NEOs for themselves) to make the actual development worth it for Airbus. So for now Airbus has put the bait on the table with the case study for the ULR and the real High MTOW variant, but they're not going ahead just yet. After all, we're talking about what, a 20 plane order at best? And Boeing has basically shot itself in the foot by postponing the 777-8, so it's not like competition is fierce.
2) The research flights, contrary to all the media enthusiasm, might quite likely NOT been a success, not completely at least. They perhaps found out that fatigue and similar are way too high on the crew, meaning more pilots/cabin needed, resulting in skyrocketing operating costs (Qantas crew is amongst the highest payed and unionised in the industry). They might also be doubting the passenger interest, but given the Perth-London load factors, I don't think that's the issue

I guess we'll see...let's not forget that up until now mister James Joyce has only been doing fancy talking and not really committed yet. Not saying it could be all just a PR stunt, but it might not end the way we all hope.

[iqtslovenia]

As a FF I feel A350 to be far superior to B787 in passenger comfort, general feeling and quietness of passenger cabin. Always prefer to fly on A350 if choice is available

[tankify]

Can you compare A350-900ULR and the A340-500 to see which is the better Long range king?

[RashadKhanAviation]

I think the A350-1000ULR will be great for Qantas! Love to see that in Qantas’ fleet!

[census]

you should do a comparison between the 777-8x and the A350ULR

[raceace]

If it's for Qantas and their choice of maximum yield seating, ULR means Usually Lots of Rigor mortis.

[cxaviation]

I was surprised when I found out that people don’t understand the words ULR as LR just means long range

[eduardodaquiljr]

where to put cargo in long haul flight?

[joemontero]

Great information but please increase your recording volume.

[omarijoseph]

ok forgive me, just wanted to know what is the "ULR & XLR" ? just a little confused..

[WilliamJones-Halibut-vqfs]

It looks like what QANTAS needs is about 10% less fuel burn so that passenger numbers and cargo doesn’t need to be compromised in order to carry extra fuel. Sounds 10 years away. At one point Airbus said they would consider reactivating the A350-800 project to meet project sunrise requirements. By shortening the body of the A350-900 to create the A350-800 with the same fuel much weight is saved thereby achieving a better compromise in passenger numbers versus range than the A350-900ULR for ultra long range flights. The -800 would be more economic on long flights than a -900ULR. For Airbus it would be a niche market.

[chish]

Just to be clear the A350-900 overlaps the 787--10X and 777--8X while the A350--1000 competes with the 777--9X and 777--300ER.
The 787--8 and --9 are faced with the new A330neo--800 and --900

[slaven]

Where did you get your sources? I'm about to write a thesis on the Boeing Airbus duopoly in the context of competition law so this will be very useful.Thank you very much, and nice video!

[yengsabio]

What exactly is the passenger payload desired/required by Qantas for the Project Sunrise? Thanks in advance!

[afh]

5:41 😬😬 I hope that's from a tailstrike test, but then Ithought for tailstrike testing, they use a wheel so the rear doesn't actually scrape the runway.

[mfl]

Good job on the video.. 1000, 000 sub soon

[JBWhitney]

Why not a 787-9LR. Quantas is flying the 787 on the route now for testing with 50 passengers. Based on the counts of the Singapore ULR, the 787 doesn’t need to as a ton more passengers. I agree cargo counts. So shouldn’t Boeing LR the 78 to meet the Quantas need. In addition, it would allow fleet commonality for Quantas and likely be a far cheaper a option. No pilot retraining, parts etc. Thoughts on why the 78 couldn’t be made to add the range? Does the 78 not have the capacity required?

[oneskyflyer]

Is this the true meaning behind ULR? And should Airbus have developed an ULR version of its A350-1000? Comment below!

[Wongwanchungwongjumbo]

Qantas Airways will consider buying the Airbus A350XWB-1000ULR Variants too.

[rodpickin]

Qantas has a great record of Competitive Tendering so it is most likely that A.J.is playing his "cost games" with the A350-1000 and yes they have announced that a review for the replacement of their A330 fleet is forthcoming so interesting times ahead. Meantime, seriously, why would you just order a standard A350-10 when you are limited to just 237 pax at a surcharge too, and most likely minimal if any freight and, your fleet operation flexibility mix is limited as well; it just doesn't add up. Do it right the first time, get the extra tankage or forget it. As I see it at the moment it is an expensive border line operational pleasant thought bubble that QF should maybe delay for a while whilst they sort out their current fleet type/numbers problems.