Go First plans to launch the IPO by July after months of deliberation; mulls inducting more aircraft

Radhika Bansal

19 May 2022

Wadia group-owned Go First plans to hit the public markets by the end of June or early July.

The airline which had got approval from market regulator Sebi for its IPO in 2021 had held back its IPO first due to the emergence of Omicron and then to avoid a clash with the mega IPO of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

Sources said that the management of Go First is preparing to restart the roadshows and investor presentations. “Given the feedback from bankers, we are ready for an IPO,” a person aware of the airline’s plans said, adding that the company will not reduce the issue size.

Go First plans to launch the IPO by July after months of deliberation; mulls inducting more aircraft

ALSO READ - Go First files for IPO at INR 3,600 crore valuation

The airline plans to garner up to INR 3,600 crore through the sale of shares, according to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) plans to utilise a primary portion towards prepayment or scheduled repayment of all or a portion of certain outstanding borrowings, vendors, and aircraft lessors.

Industry sources said that buoyancy in domestic traffic has encouraged the merchant bankers of the company to relook at the IPO. This is despite heightened challenges of record-high fuel prices and a weaker rupee against the dollar which can hit the valuations of an airline IPO.

ALSO READ - Go First’s IPO will take place on December 8, with proceeds going towards debt reduction

The airline had delayed its IPO plans in August 2021 after the Securities and Exchange Board of India called the promoters, the Wadias, for a pending inquiry. In December 2021, GoFirst further delayed the offering due to the outbreak of the Omicron wave and then the Russia-Ukraine war that started in February.

In December 2021, GoFirst further delayed the offering due to the outbreak of the Omicron wave and then the Russia-Ukraine war that started in February.

“You can never bet on a peak market or all things going right for an IPO. Merchant bankers were waiting for IPOs of LIC and Delhivery. Bankers are quite eager and optimistic. “We are all prepared and we would be open for the listing as soon as possible,” the person said.

As part of its listing preparation, the airline has resumed its capacity expansion plans and plans to add new aircraft starting in August. It plans to add 10 new Airbus A320 Neos by the end of March 2023.

Go First is flying more as the demand in the domestic sector has improved significantly due to the fall in the number of COVID cases. The airline is operating around 300 flights daily as compared to 288 flights in 2019.

“The buoyancy of traffic has definitely picked up. May has been better than April in terms of booking and advance booking has also become stronger. The top line and occupancy look encouraging. We still expect around 10-15% increase in demand,” a senior executive of the airline said.

Out of 56 aircraft, the aircraft is using around 45 with nine A320Neo still parked.

However, the airline is yet to return all of its current fleets. Out of 56 aircraft, the aircraft is using around 45 with nine A320Neo still parked. “We have 10 more aircraft to be deployed. All aircraft are expected to be operating by the end of June,” the executive said.

Go First is looking to pitch to investors that with the backing of a strong promoter group, the airline can emerge as a No 2 in the Indian domestic market but with a cost structure which is lesser than market leader IndiGo.

The financial distress of SpiceJet has hampered its fleet induction plans allowing Go First to climb to the second spot with a market share of 9.8% in March- slightly higher than 9.5% of SpiceJet.

“If we don’t aggregate the four Tata group airlines which are functioning as separate entities as of now, the airline has been second in the pecking order with a consistent market share of around 10%. Even in May, till date average market share of Go First has been little less than 12%,” a senior executive of the airline said.

The airline has consciously decided not to spread its network thin but increase its strength where it operates.

The increase in market share of Go First, the executive said is also a factor in the increase in utilisation, deployment of aircraft and selection of network. Currently, the fleet utilisation is at around 13.2 hours and the airline intends to increase it further.

The airline has consciously decided not to spread its network thin but increase its strength where it operates. Almost with a similar market share the airline operates to 29 destinations as compared to 72 destinations of SpiceJet. “We try to remain at a meaningful scale where we are present and give more options to customers rather than spreading thin and wide,” the executive said.

Aircraft fleet of Go First

Low-cost Indian air carrier GoFIRST earlier called GoAir is mulling inducting more A321 Neo aircraft into its fleet. The airline is also looking at converting its entire fleet to A321 Neos.

The airline currently has 52 A320 Neos and 6 A320 Ceos in its fleet. The airline may induct around 3-4 A321 Neos every year with total aircraft delivery of 10 aircraft per year until the financial year 2024 and another 72 aircraft will be delivered between the financial year 2024 and financial year 2027.

The airline is also looking at converting its entire fleet to A321 Neos.

The A321 Neo aircraft are known to have a longer range, can seat 25% more passengers and are 20% more fuel-efficient than the A320 Neos.

According to data from ch-aviation.com, there are currently 58 aircraft in Go First's fleet. This figure consists entirely of Airbus narrowbodies, whose average age clocks in at an impressive 6 years old.

This is slightly dragged down by the six A320ceos that remain in the fleet, which are being replaced by newer A320neos as they arrive. The 52 A230neos have an average age of just 3.4 years old.

Go First configures each of its aircraft types slightly differently when it comes to onboard seating. Of course, being an ultra-low-cost carrier, what remains consistent is the idea of an all-economy layout. However, the older A320s have slightly fewer seats, namely 180.

The newer A320neos have an extra row of seats onboard.

Meanwhile, the newer A320neos have an extra row of seats onboard. This brings their total capacity to 186 passengers.

Bottomline

India’s aviation sector has been recovering as people resume leisure and official travel after over two years of pandemic-related restrictions. However, the price of aviation fuel, the biggest cost component for airlines, has risen sharply, and competition is set to intensify as two additional carriers take to the skies.

Like other airlines, GoFirst is betting on rising demand for leisure travel during the summer vacation to combat rising fuel prices, people aware of the matter said. The carrier expects the government to lift fare caps and include aviation turbine fuel in the goods and services tax regime to help the aviation sector.

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Reliance Industries to launch drones for upcoming business - unveils plans to tap into the billion-dollar industry of India

Prashant-prabhakar

21 Feb 2022

With a target to become a key player in the expected $5 billion markets in India by the end of the decade, Reliance Industries has charted, what can be termed as an aggressive plan, to build its drone business which includes expanding manufacturing capacity five-fold, participating in the new drone production linked incentive scheme, and experimenting with limited logistics payloads to deliver goods.

The Company is collaborating with a Bangalore-based start up- Asteria Aerospace, which also happens to be a subsidiary of Jio Platforms Ltd.

In the next two years, we expect the global drone market (excluding large military drones) will be $20 billion and the Indian market will be around $1 billion, up from the current $200 million, which will be about 4-5 per cent of the global pie. This will go up to $5 billion by the end of the decade. We plan to get a significant share of this market.Neel Mehta, co-founder of Asteria

Neel Mehta (right) | Representative | The Weekly Trends

According to Mehta, with the government giving the necessary push to drone operations by lifting former bans, the ratio between military and commercial drones is expected to flip from 70:30 to 30:70 within the next two years.

Figuratively, that translates to over 50,000-60,000 commercial drones in the skies, all of which is expected to happen within two years in the country.

Additionally, the company is also planning to expand its capacity in the Bangalore plant from 2,000 per annum to 10,000 drones in the days to come.

That said, the drone hardware will account for only 30 per cent of its revenues while a major share of its income would be from providing end-to-end solutions for companies that encompass managing and running the drone, collecting data and analysing it, and offering the service on a single platform to the client.

Reportedly, Asteria will also participate in the drone Production Linked Incentive (PLI), announced by the government with a grant of Rs 120 crore to incentivise the sector.

We will surely take advantage of the PLI scheme and our assessment is that the Rs 120 crore will be used up in just two years said Mehta

In his words, drones have facilitated the maintenance of telecom towers and have also helped in the survey of new tower locations. However, he further states,  it will take another five to six years for commercial drone operations to materialize, owing to various regulations and certifications.

We don’t see regulation enabling it soon, as this means new ways of traffic management and resolving various safety concerns. And you cannot have so many drones in the skyhe said

Apparently. there are innumerable opportunities in logistics where drones are deployed in mountainous terrains were moving goods by road is time-consuming, and also healthcare drones with payloads of 5-10 kilos transport critical medicines from one place to another.

Representative | Bloomberg Quint

Currently, what you have are military drones which cost $100 million for transportation logisticsSays Mehta

Asteria’s drones have localisation levels for manufacturing of 60-65 per cent.

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Aerial Innovations Southeast

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The Russian rival to the Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 completes rigorous testing under sub-zero temperatures

Prashant-prabhakar

22 Feb 2022

The Irkut MC-21 was launched in 2007 by Irkut, a branch of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Russia.

Wikimedia Commons

Powered by Pratt and Whitney PW1000G or Aviadvigate PD-14 turbofan, the MC-21-300 prototype made its maiden flight in May 2017.

The indigenously made Russian aircraft received its Russian type certification on December 28, 2021. The certification emphasizes that the plane complies with Russia’s certification requirements applicable for a civil plane. Additionally, it also gives the company, the go-ahead, to start mass production and sales of the MC-21-300.

Aviadvigate PD-14 turbofan | Representative | Aerotime Hub

Having been tested for operations up to minus 30 degrees, the Russian airplane has now been put through temperatures far below that. The aircraft underwent a testing procedure that entailed spending around 12 hours outdoors before flight preparation procedures such as fueling, turning the systems on, starting the engines and auxiliary power unit, warming up the aircraft, etc were presumed-according to an official statement.

We have completed an important testing stage to extend the type certificate for the MC-21-300 aircraft. This year we are planning to intensely test the aircraft in different regions of our country and abroad, including conditions of high mountains, strong windshifts and high temperatures.Andrei Boginsky, CEO of Irkut Corporation

The aircraft was piloted by test pilots from OKB A.S. Yakovleva Oleg Mutovin and Andrey Voropaev out of Irkut’s facilities at Zhukovsky Airport, near Moscow.

Tech and specs

Touted as the Russian competitor to the Airbus 320 and the Boeing 737, and marketed in the west as "MC-21", the Russian narrowbody airliner has a carbon fibre reinforced polymer wing.

The aircraft will be available in two variants-the MC-21-200 and the MC-21-300 and boasts a passenger capacity of 132 and 163 two-class seats and a range of 6,400 kilometres (3,500 nautical miles) and 6,000 kilometres (3,200 nautical miles) respectively.

Maximum Take-off weight (kg)79,250Maximum payload (kg)22,600Maximum two-class configuration range (km)6,000Aircraft length (m)42,3Wingspan (m)4,06Fuselage width (m)3,81MC-21-300 | rusaviainsider

How does it compare with other competitors of its class?

Source

Irkut??-21-300Boeing737-8MAXAirbusA320neoComacC919Length, m42,339,537,638,9Wing Span, m35,935,935,835,8Engines2 ? PW1400G-JM2 ? CFM LEAP-1B2 ? PW1100G-JM2 ? CFM LEAP-1CMaximum Range, km6000650065004075MTOW, kg79250821907900077300Seats(two-classconfiguration)163162165156rusaviainsider

Currently, the company has firm orders from:

Avia Capital Services (85 aircraft, including 50 for Aeroflot)Ilyushin Finance Co. (50 aircraft),VEB-Leasing (30 aircraft)IrAero Airlines (10 aircraft)

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Aviation Voice

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Advanced avionics system and automation - the good, bad and the dark side of it

Prashant-prabhakar

20 Feb 2022

The unfortunate B737MAX crashes of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines and the mystical disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH370 in 2014 has baffled aviation experts and left people wondering about how much of their travel is actually at the mercy of these machines and how much is left to the flight crew.

MH 370 | Representative | The New York Times

Let's face it. Automation is never going away. The future of aviation is even more automated.

Thereby, it is only fair that one evaluates the good, and the not-so-good side of automation.

The pros

Airlines and manufacturers would vouch for the fact that automation would cut costs, save money while at the same time also alleviate pilot-shortage problems-perhaps even reducing the number of pilots in the cockpit. In their defence, redesigning the front of the aircraft to be more aerodynamic would save them more, even if it meant doing away with the room for pilots, or probably shifting the flew crew to another part of the aircraft.

Representative | Medium

Here are a few advantages:

Automation supposedly relives the flight crew from repetitive or non-rewarding tasks for which humans are less suited, thereby simplifying the job of pilotingImproves flight path control and reduces weather minimaAnother advantage, and this is the most obvious one- reduces crew workload thereby allowing them to focus more on concentrating to keeping awareness with their environment and communication with colleagues during take-off, cruise and landing phasesOverall operating costs are slashed considerably since most of the work is now done by computers

The con(s)

While automation has contributed to the airline industry’s stellar safety record in recent years, it has also been a factor in many of the crashes that have still occurred around the world.

Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic on 1 June 2009 killing everyone onboard | Final reports attributed the cause to miscommunication between the crew and flight systems | National Geographic

For years now, we have increasingly added avionics and mission systems to the aircraft, and much of the pilot’s new workload is based on monitoring and evaluating feedback from multiple systems. Scientifically, the evaluation of this automated feedback (s) is beyond the realm of the human brain. First of all, it pushes us beyond our brain’s ability to focus, select, and sustain attention. Monitoring multiple data outputs simultaneously can lead to "selective attention", which might lead to neglecting other critical tasks at hand.

AirMed&Rescue

When a flight crew's attention is diverted from the task of flying, the chance of error increases. Thereby, the FAA enacted a mandatory rule, in 1981, known as the "Sterile Cockpit Rule"- which prohibits flight crew from indulging in unnecessary conversation in the cockpit during the critical phases of flight, i.e take-off and landing.

Sterile Cockpit Rule | Infographic | MPUG

Automation has created new opportunities for mistakes to be made, by pilots who don’t understand what the machine is doing and are not necessarily paying attention.Stephen Casner, a research psychologist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California

When advanced avionics systems were first introduced, it was hoped that those new systems would eliminate pilot error. Experience has shown that while advanced avionics systems do help reduce many types of errors, they have also created new kinds of errors.

Here are a few disadvantages:

Basic manual and cognitive flying skills can decline because of lack of practice and feel for the aircraftUnanticipated situations requiring manual override of automation are difficult to understand and manage, can create a surprise or startle effect, and can induce peaks of workload and stressManual data entry errors can occur when using Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs)-unfortunately, there is no system check of the consistency of the computed or entered values and technology gives a certain sense of false confidence.Flight crew may not be sufficiently informed of automation failures or malfunctions hence, in the unlikely event of an automation failure/disconnection, the crew might be in for a surprise and fail to respond adequately.

Electronic Flight Bag (left) | Representative | Thales Aerospace Blog

Theoretically, an airplane can fly from point A to point B on its own. Owing to the volume of flights around typical airports, the original flight plan must change as the plane nears its destination and that's typically where the pilots need to understand what the automated system is doing.

Representative | Smarter Travel

We have this odd paradox that this system, designed to make it easier for us, bizarrely makes it harder, as we program and reprogram the computerCasner said

Reportedly, pilots now spend more time learning these automated systems than practising hands-on flying, so newer pilots are less comfortable with taking manual control when the computer steers them wrong.

The automation in the aircraft, whether it’s a Boeing or an Airbus, has lulled us into a sense of security and safety. They become a systems operator rather than a stick-and-rudder pilotKevin Hiatt, a former Delta Air Lines pilot who later ran flight safety for JetBlue

The flight crew may not exactly know or recognize quickly enough what is happening to the aircraft, and by the time they figure it out, it may be too late- he further added.

This brings us to the term "automation dependency"- described as a situation in which pilots who routinely fly aircraft with automated systems are only fully confident in their ability to control the trajectory of their aircraft when using the full functionality of such systems- often indicating a lack of manual flying and aircraft management competence.

The dark side

Flying has become much safer now with many attributing it to advancements in automation. However, it carries a dark footnote too.

Representative | Wired

The overall decline in plane crashes masks the recent arrival of  “a spectacularly new type of accident"Raja Parasuraman, a psychology professor at George Mason University and one of the world’s leading authorities on automation

In worst-case scenarios, automation places added and unexpected demands on pilots-when they are abruptly forced to take manual control of the aircraft-though very rare makes them prone to making errors.

Extensive studies and research by scores of psychologists, engineers, and other ergonomics, or “human factors researchers have led to the conclusion that a heavy reliance on computer automation can erode pilots’ expertise, dull their reflexes, and diminish their attentiveness, leading to what Jan Noyes, a human factors expert at the Britain’s University of Bristol, calls “a deskilling" of the crew.

Representative | Istanbulbc Training

 Pilots can be distracted by their interactions with onboard computers, and they can “abdicate too much responsibility to the automated systems"Kathy Abbott, a FAA Scientist

The pilots may have to interpret computerized alarms, input data, and scan information displays even as they’re struggling to take manual control of the plane and orient themselves to their circumstances. The tasks and attendant distractions increase the odds that the aviators will make mistakes- a phenomenon which the researchers commonly refer to as the "automation paradox".

The irony behind automation arises from a growing body of research demonstrating that automated systems often increase workload and create unsafe working conditionsMark Scerbo, a psychologist and human-factors expert at Virginia’s Old Dominion University said

The pilots themselves aren't oblivious to the automation effects.

Interestingly, the worries seem to be more pronounced in pilots who started their careers long before advanced computers took over a major part of flying.

Rory Kay, a long-time United Airlines captain who until recently served as the top safety official with the Air Line Pilots Association, echoes his fears stating the aviation industry is suffering from “automation addiction.”

We’re forgetting how to flyRory Kay said in an interview from 2011

Moving forward

Regardless of the degree of automation advancements, the key to autonomous flight will always be on its customers, or in other words, how willing people are to fly in self-piloting aircraft.

Boeing's electric self-piloted passenger drone | Representative | Deezen

Studies conducted in 2014 point to the fact that people were much more likely to fly in airplanes piloted by at least a single pilot in the cockpit and less likely to fly with either a human flying the plane remotely or aboard a fully autonomous plane.

That said, a larger study in 2018 revealed that 30% of US consumers were willing to fly on an autonomous airliner while about 60% were unwilling.

Large commercial airplanes will likely go pilotless later than smaller private aircraft, because of the amount of time and money required to produce them.

Representative | NBC

Although smaller air taxis have already taken to the skies, operating them would be economically not viable if they require a human pilot on board.

Aerotaxi | Representative | Sacyr

Thereby, as automation technology progresses, and it will only advance further, everyone concerned- both, companies and customers alike, will have to take a stand on the risks and benefits, financially, in terms of safety–and emotionally.

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Wired

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Can hydrodynamics and aerodynamics work in tandem to create zero-emission flights?

Prashant-prabhakar

25 Feb 2022

Humans, since time immemorial, have emulated nature which has resulted in the mind-boggling, innovative inventions we see today. He has always wanted to take to the skies and fly like a bird and hence, created the wonderful airplanes we see today.

Representative | Transpoco

Nature has a solution for almost all the issues we face today if we know where to look and how.

Global warming causing climate change is one of the major issues, we as mankind, face today. Uncontrolled emissions from aircraft are the least we want right now- it is to be noted- aviation accounts for about 2-3% of global carbon emissions.

Does nature perhaps, have a solution for this too?

Turns out, it does.

Shrinking your carbon footprint with "Sharkskin Technology"

Sharks, over millions of years of evolution, have evolved to possess very slightly ribbed skin from smooth skin- which apparently has been found to reduce "drag" during motion.

The aviation industry, for years, has been researching and brainstorming to come up with ways of reducing aerodynamic drag- the lesser the frictional resistance of the aircraft-lesser the overall fuel consumption.

Not surprisingly, this time again, we have turned to nature for advice and the team at AeroShark have taken a page from nature's book, to design a functional biomimetic technology: a film with a barely perceptible ribbed texture of small protrusions – riblet.

Representative | Lufthansa-Technik.com

Lufthansa, in collaboration with BASF-a a leading global chemicals and coatings manufacturer, has devised the riblet, dubbed "AeroShark", which is an adhesive riblet film that is touted to immediately reduce fuel consumption, thereby slashing carbon emissions.

Reportedly, the team at AeroShark has moved to integrate the texture on the exterior of large aircraft.

The millions of prism-shaped "riblets" on the AeroShark film's surface are minuscule- no more than 50 micrometres (1/20th of a millimetre, 2/1000ths of an inch) high. How could something so tiny, possibly facilitate zero carbon emissions?

The AeroSHARK effect | Infographic | Lufthansa Group CleanTech Hub

The adage, "Size doesn't matter" perfectly fits in here as apparently, that is enough to bring considerable changes in overall emissions, even if it accounts for 1-2% of an overall emission reduction. The riblets imitate the properties of sharkskin and therefore optimize the aerodynamics on flow-related parts of an aircraft. Apparently, it can also increase lift, if applied on wings.

Representative | Polymers Paint Colours Journal

The Swiss airline has calculated that if 950 square meters (10,225 sq ft) of this film were to be applied to a Boeing 777, in specific patterns and aligned with the airflow around the fuselage and engine nacelles surfaces, the reduced drag would immediately reduce fuel consumption by 1.1%.

According to CleanTech Hub at Lufthansa Group, the riblets are easy to apply, even on large commercial aircraft. they have already been certified with up to 500 m2 on a Boeing 747-400's lower fuselage and belly fairing. They are designed to be extremely resilient, withstands large temperature shifts and pressure differentials as well as ultraviolet radiation on high flight levels.

Lufthansa had previously announced it would roll it out on its entire cargo freight fleet as well – a further 10 Boeing 777s, representing 3,700 tons of jet fuel savings and 11,700 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided every year.

Lufthansa Group

Scaling up this savings potential to a global fleet of around 24,000 aircraft, AeroSHARK could even save around two million tons of kerosene and around 6.3 million tons of CO2 every year.

And the best part? This technology can be applied to all kinds of aircraft with a similar effect- probably why Lufthansa Technik already plans to certify it for additional surfaces and aircraft types shortly.

https://youtu.be/-m0EiUyoQ48

Lufthansa-Technik

Responsibility for the environment and society is a key strategic topic for us. We have always played a leading role in introducing environmentally friendly technologies. The new sharkskin technology for aircraft shows what strong and highly innovative partners can achieve collectively for the environment. This will help us to achieve our goal of climate neutrality by 2050says Christina Foerster, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG with responsibility for sustainability

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Freight Waves

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The Boeing Dreamliner family gets bigger - plans underway to unveil a new version of B787-10

Prashant-prabhakar

19 Feb 2022

The stretched version of the 787-9-->the 787-10 is the newest and longest member of the super-efficient 787 families. Often compared with the long-range, wide-body- A350, manufactured by Airbus in response to the 787 Dreamliner, the two incorporate the most efficient technology available.

The Guardian

The A350 can handle more passengers than the B787 in a two-class configuration, while the B787 takes the top spot when it comes to fuel efficiency. In other words, the A350 obviously has a longer range while the B787 simply burns the fuel better.

Representative | Arabian Aerospace

If reports are anything to go by, Boeing is now in plans of launching a High Gross Weight (HGW) version of the 787-10-the largest variant of the Dreamliner family.

Why would Boeing go for a new design, now that it is already beset with numerous 787 production and quality issues?

Despite the 787-10's range being lesser than other variants of the family, it has played a significant role in the trans-Atlantic, before the pandemic. The aircraft type has also often been deployed on trans-pacific routes such as San Francisco – Auckland and Los Angeles – Shanghai Pudong.

Reportedly, Air New Zealand, which is planning to retire its entire 777 aircraft and simplify its long-haul fleet to a single type, has held talks with Boeing for a higher MTOW version of the 787-10 so that the airline can use these aircraft without cargo and passenger restrictions on its transpacific routes to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver.

The A350 vs B787

Representative | Source

The 787-10 has a capacity of seating up to 440 passengers with a maximum range of  6,430NM (7,400 miles). The A350 can fly  8,100NM (9,320 miles) at the same passenger capacity as the 787. The massive difference in the overall range restricts the 787 to operate only on regional or select long-haul routes, with ultra-long routes totally out of the cards. Boeing clearly wanted that to change, which is quite evident from its recent announcement.

The B787-10 ER (Extended Range)

As the very name suggests, the reprised model would have a higher take-off weight (MTOW) and carry more fuel for extended operations.

Representative | Quartz

While the concept of an "extended range" is not new to the 787-10, basically, it would allow:

Easy replacement of the 777-200ER with more than 25% improved fuel efficiency, also not withstanding the added benefit of adding upto 42 seats moreAddition of 60 extra seats for the same range as in for an A330-900 neo. This would tactically reduce operational costs by 17% while also allowing for 20% additional payload.A noteworthy payload advantage over the -900 version of the A350, with 9 more seats, a 2% lower trip, and 8% lower cost per seat

Reportedly, the High Gross Weight (HGW) version of the 787-10 would be a boon for several operators in the transpacific market to ultimately replace their entire ageing fleet of the 777s, without adding a new group of pilots.

The "extended range"-a feature of the 787-10 would once again bring the aircraft type into the spotlight after having been replaced over for other types in the past, for instance, when Emirates preferred to choose the 787-9 over -10 citing the latter's lack of overall range.

Furthermore, there are also talks of an HGW version of the B787-9 in the making. The 787-9 has had a pivotal role in ultra-long-range flights since its inception-making 5 of the 10 longest flights in the world.

787-9 | Representative | Airways Magazine

The -9 has been Qantas’ test model on experimental Project Sunrise flights between Sydney to New York and London Heathrow. Project Sunrise is an ambitious initiative by Qantas to operate the world's longest nonstop flights, which would allow travellers to fly between London and New York to the eastern Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne. The inaugural flights of Project Sunrise – named the double sunrises which passengers and crew would experience on these epic journeys – were initially slated for 2023.

Representative | Source

The completion of the 787-9 HGW could help realize Qantas’ dream and initiate a new era of ultra-long-range flights.

Historically, rolling out the "Extended Range(s)" version of in-service flights have worked wonders for the Boeing company, which again, is quite evident from the record sales of the 767-300ER and 777-300ER.

That said, although the Dreamliner program is shrouded with numerous production and quality issues, there's still hope about the continuation of the 787 programs.

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Rishworth Aviation

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