SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Airbus faces delays in introducing an ultra-long-range version of its A350-1000 designed for Australian airline Qantas Airways’ non-stop Sydney-London flights, as a regulator asked it to review the design of an additional fuel tank, said the general manager of the French group’s commercial aviation division.
“The regulator has asked us to review the design of the central tank of our very long range aircraft for (the) Sunrise project,” Christian Scherer said on the sidelines of the Singapore Air Show on Thursday.
Qantas said on Thursday that delivery dates for its first A350-1000s, capable of ultra-long-range flights, had been pushed back by around six months to mid-2026.
“We have to redesign the central tank, the additional fuel tank, which will enable the Sunrise mission, and that is what explains this change,” Christian Scherer said.
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the delays were due to longer-than-expected delays in getting the first aircraft certified.
“However, we believe that (delivery) of the fleet of 12 aircraft will occur quickly once (certification is obtained),” she told reporters.
Vanessa Hudson added that demand for non-stop flights remained strong, as demonstrated by the Perth-London and Perth-Paris routes operated by the company.
“We are therefore more convinced than ever that the file holds up and that a delay of six months is not a problem,” she declared.
(Reporting Brenda Goh in Singapore and Praveen Menon in Sydney, written by Jamie Freed; Camille Raynaud)
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