The new Airbus A350 will use roughly one-third the electric power of the Dreamliner, Airbus officials said Thursday.
The Airbus A350 will offer similar improvements in humidity and air pressure.
Singapore Airlines on Thursday also announced orders for 30 Airbus A350-900 jets scheduled for delivery starting in the 2016-2017 financial year.
The newly-certificated Trent XWB engine will power the Airbus A350, while its Trent 1000-TEN will power Boeing's 787 Dreamliner from 2016.
On Tuesday, a senior aviation analyst told Forbes.com that the Airbus A350, an XWB (extra-wide body) aircraft, could be delayed until 2014.
The company has also placed orders for 25 new Airbus A350 XWBs and 25 Boeing 787s. (Read Boeing Profit Drops In Q4, Dow Rallies).
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It would be astonishing if the 787's closest competitor, the Airbus A350 XWB, due to go into service next year, does not suffer its own bedding-in challenges.
Worldwide, airlines have been slowly but steadily putting into operation two next-generation aircraft -- Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 -- both of which have shells made heavily of composite materials, such as carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, instead of aluminium.
We expect higher earnings from the Boeing 787 and 747-8 (expected to be launched later this year) to be offset by future commercial launch of the Airbus A350, which would compete directly against the 787 in size, range and fuel efficiency, hence keeping EBITDA margin stable.
Airbus's A350, which was intended to challenge the Dreamliner, has been delayed because of a problem with its wings.
It is unsurprising that since its launch in 2004, the Dreamliner has won 350 orders while Airbus's A350 has landed only around 180.
European rival Airbus has had seven A350 orders cancelled by Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi-based airline.
Some analysts have said that Airbus should push back the A350 program indefinitely to ensure it can at least squeeze a better performance out of its A330, a currently-in-service 295-seater that was built to compete with Boeing's 767.
McVitie said that Branson would be "making the same mistake twice" if he went on to commit to one of Airbus' newest models, the A350 extra wide body plane.
Airbus also plans to use them on its A350 model which is now under development as well.
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To counter the 787, Airbus is offering a white elephant called the A350, which has been widely derided as out of step with the changing times.
The problem is that while Boeing intends to make 50% of its 787 Dreamliner out of hardened plastics -- and therefore lighter and more fuel efficient -- Airbus has been planning to to build the A350 with aluminum alloys.
"We don't need as much power, and it's a different architecture on the A350, " said Tom Williams, Airbus's executive vice president for programs.
To add to Boeing's discomfort, Airbus announced in December that it would introduce the A350 in direct competition with the Dreamliner, offering much the same specifications.
Meanwhile, Airbus has scrapped plans to use the batteries in its A350 passenger jet.
Snapping at Boeing's heels is its arch rival Airbus, which is expected to start test flying its A350 XWB later this year.
Airbus plans to use bigger lithium batteries on its new A350 model, now in development, but those cells still will be smaller than those aboard the Dreamliner.
Meanwhile, as Boeing scrambles to find a quick fix and keep its customers happy, one of its biggest competitors is working to make sure its own planes are kept in the air: A spokesman for Airbus, which uses similar lithium-ion batteries in its A350 wide body jet, told the Reuters news service that the company is considering dropping Lithium-ion batteries and switching back to traditional nickel-cadmium power units.
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Airbus uses lithium-ion batteries to power some systems aboard its A350 airliners.
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Airbus has said it will delay the introduction of its fuel-efficient A350 XWB to fix a glitch related to its wings.
Airbus says it will not use lithium-ion batteries in its forthcoming A350 plane because of problems that have grounded rival Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
Earlier this month, Airbus said it would not use lithium-ion batteries in its forthcoming A350 plane because of problems that have grounded Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
Airbus, for example, announced in March that its next-generation A350 XWB is using a handful of 3D-printed components.
Singapore Airlines and ILFC (a big American leasing company and loyal Airbus customer) have called for a total re-think to give the A350 a wider fuselage and a cabin as comfortable as the one on the 787.
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