As commercial airlines select lighter and cheaper aircraft to operate such as the new Boeing 787 and Airbus’s A350-XWB, what does the future hold for the private VIP completions industry?
In the commercial world airlines are selecting midsized aircraft that are cheap to fly and easy to deploy – they are not selecting to buy 747’s or A380 in numbers. The beginning of October saw another order in line with the commercial trend – Japan Airlines placed an order for Airbus A350 aircraft a market to-date grown by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The drive for airlines is efficiency and yet the VIP world might just follow suit. Grand opulence has its place and their will always be reason for super jumbo sized aircraft not solely driven by bigger is better but also dependent on the exacting need of each client.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner in dash eight, nine and ten variant and the A350 XWB in eight hundred, nine hundred and one thousand variants provide just about everything most could need from a wide-body long-range bizjet.
Add to this the engineering and required resource feat of completing an A380 and this leaves Boeing’s 787-8 and the 777X as the main long-range contenders as far as green wide body aircraft considerations go. The pre-owned second-hand market strikes a formidable case in return and the sums may justify the head over the heart.
Aircraft such as the Airbus A340 are available on the market from airlines who are replacing such aircraft with the new tech. Perform the sums and a refurbishment of such a cabin leaves plenty in the pocket and dependent on the elegance and tech level required in the cabin a much high spec interior for much less overall budget. Sure operating cost which includes fuel burn of four engines and maintenance all come into play but still it calculates out as a valid option.
The third viable options exists for many corporate and governmental flight departments who have now options of aircraft such as the Gulfstream G650, reaching of 12,960km and providing more cabin space than ever before in a corporate jet with speed and economy, plus the narrow bizjet market with aircraft such as the BBJ MAX and Airbus A320 Neo option nestle comfortably in-between.
All different aircraft of different sizes, capability and operating cost and yet the questions are being asked can a G650 really do everything we need it to do or do we need the 787?
At VIP Completions we are providing more of these sums to clients than ever before, not only do defining the specification level and operational use requirements upfront define the scope of the project but they also make a serious case for decision-making where some of these options has not been initial considerations by clients, particularly in the wide-body sector this is the case and the end of the jumbo jet era could really be here.
Article supplied by VIP Completions
VIP Completions are a provider of project support and consultancy services for wide and narrow-body bizliners, and business jet interior completions.