Airbus To Launch A350 Stretch?

Airbus has, for the first time in half a decade, acknowledged progress on a new A350 model.

Often dubbed the A350-2000 or A350 Stretch, this prospective model in the broader Airbus A350 family would represent a capacity increase over the largest existing -1000 model and address airlines’ requests for high-capacity airliners that improve efficiency.

At the 2025 Dubai Airshow, the planemaker’s CEO, Christian Schere, said it is studying a larger model in the family for possible release, and that comes at a time when its competitor, Boeing, is doing something similar.

Airbus vs Boeing Yet Again?

While Airbus confirms it has begun work on a larger model in the A350 family, Boeing has also begun work on a prospective 777-10, which will form part of the 777X family.

These studies once more re-ignite the age-old rivalry between these two planemakers as they fight for market share and to determine the feasibility of a larger plane that addresses some concerns raised by airlines.

Most notably, those concerns have come from Emirates, which has been searching for a larger aircraft as its concerns grow over the aging nature of the Airbus A380 family. However, as the planemaker has not yet progressed with an A380neo, the airline has set its sights elsewhere.

When Emirates confirmed it would order 65 additional 777-9 jets, in that same press release, the airline confirmed that it had now given Boeing the confidence to begin progressing with feasibility studies for the 777-10.

Technical feasibility of the 777-10 has already been achieved, FlightGlobal leading that reporting in the 2010s when Boeing was first studying the possible release of a third passenger variant in the newly announced aircraft.

However, for Boeing over the last decade, the 777X has been only a problem child. While offering airlines fantastic capabilities, it remains uncertified and is now 5 years behind schedule.

Therefore, the possibility of moving forward with another passenger model while still not having the green light for the first unit, with customers waiting, made little to no sense.

A Long Rumoured Airbus Aircraft

On Airbus’ side, the rumoured A350 stretch has been part of industry discussions for far longer than just the last month, driven by Emirates.

The A350 Stretch has long been investigated as a way to replace ageing widebody aircraft, whether four-engine or two-engine, with a capacity exceeding 400.

When Airbus decided not to proceed with the A350-800 and instead consolidated the series into just two variants, onlookers argued there was a fresh opportunity to pitch a new model that would give airlines capacity without sacrificing efficiency.

In the mid-2010s, as the A350 stretch gained most of its focus, the A380-800 was still in production, Airbus was hopeful of keeping the world’s largest passenger plane alive through last-ditch sales pushes.

So, while it was somewhat interested in the launch of a new A350 model, it was also aware that if it was to proceed with this, the world’s largest passenger plane users would no longer be required; essentially, the planemaker would be cannibalising an existing model for another.

However, as 2025 comes to a close, the A380-800, while flying around the world, has already had its production close, meaning that the prospective launch of a new A350 model would not kill the A380 but rather provide airlines with a solution to their superjumbo problem.