We may get the first glimpse of the Boeing 797 at the upcoming Paris Air Show. But, until then, we can only speculate on how Boeing will approach the current aviation market, and how they will deal with competition.
Engine manufacturer Rolls Royce is predicting 4,000-5,000 Boeing 797s will be ordered over the next 20 years. But what aircraft will the 797 be competing against, and will this competition be able to beat Boeing to the punch?
The Boeing 797, also dubbed the ‘New Midsized Aeroplane’, fills a hole in the Boeing aircraft lineup. Currently, Boeing does not sell an aircraft that carries up to 250-270 passengers and is designed for short haul travel. The Boeing 797 would be bigger than the Boeing 737 MAX 10 but smaller than the long haul Boeing 787-8.
The Boeing 767 is the closest jet to what the 797 will become. It is twin-aisled, carrying 210-300 passengers with a range of 5,500-6,500 nmi. Boeing produced and sold over 1,200 of these aircraft and they are still in use all over the world. However, it’s an older design made for a time when flights were much more expensive. Designed in the 1980s and improved in the 1990s, fuel was cheap and building materials were heavy. With lighter and more fuel efficient planes available, the Boeing 767 is just not an economical option on the market.
Airlines are looking for an aircraft that is suited for high capacity short-haul routes. Routes between large and close cities such as Melbourne and Sydney (the most passengers per year) or Chicago and New York could benefit from the 797. With its twin aisles, it will be able to board and disembark passengers much faster than the single aisle aircraft currently used on these routes, such as the Boeing 737 or Airbus A320.
The 797 has the advantages of being a new design and incorporating the latest technological innovations from both the Dreamliner and the Boeing 777x, which will be flying later this year. These include a composite structure to make it lighter and a myriad of improved passenger comforts.
Here they are side by side, with the Boeing 797 in the middle:
Aircraft Passengers Range Cost
A321neo 180-220 4,000 nmi US$129.5 million
A321XLR 180-230 4,700 nmi US$130 million??
737 MAX 10 185-200 3,000 nmi US$134.9M
797 228-275 5,000 nmi US$130-140M??
787-8 242 7,355 nm US$239.0M
Currently, the role of the 797 is fulfilled by Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s. The Airbus A320 has the world’s fastest growing sales of any aircraft and is widely used. But both of these aircraft are smaller (fitting in around 100-230 passengers) and lack the advantages of a newer twin-aisled design. Boeing has said that the 737 could perform much of the work, but a further stretch is nearly impossible.
The Airbus A321neo is the biggest and most advanced version of the Airbus A320 family. It is the closest design to the upcoming Boeing 797. Airbus just launched the new A321XLR, a long-range version at the Paris Air show. The A321 can only carry around 180 to 230 passengers (exit limit 250) and only has a range of 4-5,000 nmi. This would always make it the lesser option when compared to the 797. But Airbus isn’t worried, knowing that it will reap plenty of orders that might go to a 797 .
The Boeing 787-8 seems to tick all the boxes for the Boeing 797. It is twin-aisled, economical, carries 242 passengers in a two-class configuration 7,300 nmi. But this is overkill for some airlines. As we have mentioned before, a bigger plane means more tickets to sell. More tickets to sell means it is harder to make a profit. Plus Boeing would not want to cannibalize sales of their own aircraft and thus will differentiate the 797 from the 787 family. It is unlikely that they would market it as an option.
The last aircraft on this list is the actual aircraft Airbus is officially touting to beat the 797. specifically the A330-800, which has only sold eight units in the world. The A330-800 can carry 257 passengers (3 class configuration) or up to 400 in an all-economy cattle box. It has a range of 8,150 nmi and would place it perfectly within the scope of what Boeing is trying to achieve. The only problem is cost. The Airbus A330-800 is expensive to buy ($259.9 million) and run.
