At the recent Airbus Summit in Toulouse, the company revealed concepts for its next-generation single-aisle aircraft, which will replace the A320. The plans included radical ideas like open-fan engines, folding wings, advanced composites, and more.
Airbus’s next-generation jet will focus on efficiency, sustainability
At the summit, Bruno Fichefeux, Head of Future Programmes at Airbus, said: “We cannot do it with incremental optimization, this will come with disruption, this will come through clean sheet design. It’s a research and technology phase, where we mature many technologies, and when we combine them together we need to look at what are the best trade-offs – which paths do we open, which do we close? We are not there yet.”
The new plane will fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with a goal of 20 to 30 percent improved fuel efficiency. Airbus is working with CFM, a joint project between France’s Safran and GE Aerospace, on the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) open fan engine demonstrator. Unlike a conventional jet engine, the RISE uses fan blades protruding outside the engine nacelle (cover). A set of counter-rotating blades improves the bypass ratio and enhances efficiency.
Regarding a possible 20% improvement in fuel burn, CFM spokesman Mohamad Ali told Simple Flying: “That is the fuel burn opportunity that we are thrilled and excited about. And it is not a vision in the future. We have done hundreds of tests already to demonstrate that project.”
Also part of the concept are folding wings, with a narrower, longer, thinner profile. By folding, the wings ensure the plane can fit into airport gates, and once airborne, the more extended design mimics an albatross in flight. Airbus’s Wing of Tomorrow program in the UK is designing the wings. Airbus also plans to use advanced composites, which will be lighter and stronger, decreasing mass and improving efficiency.
