Qantas asks Airbus, Boeing to “sharpen their pencils” on Project Sunrise
Qantas international chief executive Tino La Spina says the airline has asked Airbus and Boeing “to sharpen their pencils” on their Project Sunrise proposals.
Airbus has put forward its A350-1000 as the candidate aircraft for Qantas to mount nonstop flights from Australia’s east coast to London, New York and other ultra long-haul destinations currently being evaluated under the Project Sunrise banner.
The airline has said previously it hoped to reach a decision on whether to proceed with the project before the end of calendar 2019, with flights slated to begin in 2023 should the business case stack up.
Meanwhile, Boeing has proposed its 777-8X platform alongside an “interim solution” with an undisclosed aircraft type. The interim solution was proposed after Boeing pushed back the development timetable for the 777-8X, meaning the aircraft would not be in service by the time Qantas wanted to launch these ultra long-haul services.
Qantas said in August that Airbus and Boeing had submitted their best and final offers, following a request for proposal (RFP) process, that covered pricing, performance guarantees and details of potential delivery streams, among other matters.
The technical evaluation showed Airbus and Boeing could offer an aircraft that would be able to operate a full payload between Sydney and New York, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said earlier in 2019.
For Sydney-London, Joyce said the aircraft would not be able to operate with a full payload. Instead, the manufacturers told Qantas they were able to achieve a payload that made the business case potentially work.
La Spina said the further discussions with the manufacturers were about looking to make sure the aircraft were future proof.
“We’ve got the Airbus A350ULR and we’ve got the 777-X. Both products can do the mission,” La Spina said during Qantas’s investor day presentations in Sydney on Tuesday.
“The economics and what we have been asking from the manufacturers, we went through a best-and-final offer phase.
“We’ve asked them to go back and re-look at that, to sharpen their pencils, because there still was a gap there. We are still eagerly awaiting to see what we get back from that.”
“That is just not around price. That covers things like guarantees, the what ifs, because this aircraft is going to be in the fleet for the next 20 years and we want to cover off eventualities.”
https://thewofa.com/2019/11/qantas-a...oject-sunrise/