There has been an undoubtedly continuous
improvement in the aviation industry from the hot air balloon of the 18th century
to the more modern aircraft of today’s world. Different eras of aviation have come and
gone, the era of lighter than air powered aircraft and the transitioning into heavier
than air powered aircraft, but one thing has remained significantly evident, and that is the
continuous improvement in aviation services. Most recently, the wide-body aircraft
rocked the aviation in
dustry, and its imprint is still right
there in our subconscious so much that when aircraft are mentioned, the
picture we have in our head is a bulky fuselage, well, not for long as the narrow-body
aircraft is gradually displacing that later. A narrow-body flight is also
known as single-aisle aircraft. Due to its narrow fuselage, the narrow-body flight
has a single aisle that runs across the length of the flight with six seats per roll, this means
there are three seats on either side of th
e aisle. It has a maximum seating
capacity of 295 passengers which means it cannot convey as many
passengers as that of wide-body aircraft. Often, narrow-body flights operate short-haul
international flights and domestic flights. Gradually, the dominance of narrow-body flight
is felt across the aviation industry, and it is fast becoming the future of aviation. There are
various contributory factors to this development, one of which is air traffic growth. The
international civil aviation or
ganization hinted that the number of passengers
has increased in the last 20 years. The extensive growth in air transportation
has prompted the aircraft industry to create a viable option for managing the growing needs of
passengers while also delivering top-notch service in the competitive aviation industry.
The desire to find a solution has led to the manufacturing of some
new generations of outstanding aircraft. There are three planes in this category
of the latest narrow-body aircraft
with the latest optimized engines. The first on the
list is Airbus’ A220, previously known as the Bombardier CSeries, which has the smallest
capacity of the three. The grant to travel longer range was recently approved (ETOPS
approval) for this model of Airbus, with the inclusion of travel from the west coast of the
USA to Hawaii or from the east coast to Europe. Following closely is Boeing’s 737 MAX, an upgrade
of the Boeing 737. It offers the greatest range in its family due to the newly
upgraded airframe and
the new CFM International LEAP- 1B engines. The long-range version of the Boeing 737
MAX has the capacity to travel 7400km with a passenger capacity of 150, and it will be
able to travel long-range as the rivaling A321XLR. The third of the lot is the real game-changer- The
A321XLR. It is the latest member of the A321neo family; it is the upgraded version of Airbus’
short-haul set to operate at the longest range of the A320 platform. The A321XLR
operates with inbuilt f
uel tanks. The A321LR has the capacity
to travel at a stretch of 707 and make a return, which amounts to
4,700 nautical miles- around 10hours, which is the equivalent of the distance from
Beijing to France or Florida to the UK. This is in high contrast to when Boeing 707 started flying
in 1958, with several stops landing to refuel. The largest narrow-body flight presently is
Boeing 757-300 which can fly 3,990 statute miles (6,426 km) without refueling, displacing Boeing
757-200 with 20% gr
eater passenger capacity. In the area of range and efficiency, narrow-body aircraft are well optimized,
and they have the tendency of competing side by side with wide-body flights that were
previously dominating the long-haul airspace. The A321LR has a range of 7,400 kilometers,
with the 737 MAX following at close range. Such distance coverage was typically
associated with wide-body aircraft before now, but the emergence of optimized
narrow-body flight has since given wide-body flight compe
tition, and the A321 and
737MAX are peculiar with this development. One brilliant feature of new generation aircraft
in which narrow body flight also belongs is its fuel-efficiency ability. International air
transportation association reported that each new generation of aircraft has 20% enhanced fuel
efficiency; this directly translates to narrow body flight having the capacity to travel long
distances without needing to stop over to refuel. For instance, the A321 classic delivers a
10% c
ost reduction in contrast to A321neo, which goes a step further to
deliver a 20% cost reduction. This simultaneously saves the airlines money and
also contributes to the welfare of passengers. Similarly, aside from that, narrow-body
flight requires the lowest fuel burn; it also significantly makes less noise.
In an age where consumers are becoming increasingly more sensitive to the plight
of their environment, the narrow-body flight is a good option to make recourse to as it makes
lesser n
oise compared to other models of aircraft. Similarly, the low fuel consumption of narrow-body
aircraft will be cost-effective for airlines and thereby influencing a drop in the fares of
consumers. This will attract an influx of consumers in a world where what most consumers
are concerned about is getting quality for less. But do we blame them? Show me a person
that doesn’t love the quality for less. Previously, wide-body flights
accounted for long haul routes, but the new era in passenger g
rowth has introduced
narrow-body aircraft on long haul routes; this will ensure that the aircraft does not
have stopovers like the wide-body aircraft. Topping the chart of narrow-body long haul
flights is the Panamanian flagship carrier at (4500km). Aircraft passengers
will be more than willing to opt for the option that best serves their interests. Generally, long-distance travel is often
associated with the hub to hub travel when transporting large goods and passengers through
the tradit
ional long-range wide-body aircraft. This means that the passenger will then catch
another flight to their final destination if the destination is a secondary city, which might
not be economically feasible for the passenger. Well, the good news is the aviation industry
is aware of the discomfort such travel plans exhibit, so therefore the inculcation of
narrow-body flights to long-range routes that can not only travel across hubs but
from one secondary destination to another by simply incre
asing their flight
frequency. With narrow body flight, we are definitely beyond the era of unnecessary
stopovers. This also avails passengers the opportunity to get to their destination without
wasting time. This will subsequently increase the profitability of airlines. What are
businesses without profit maximization? Also, the mechanical make-up of narrow-body
flight secures a safe space for such models in the future of aviation. The new and more
upgraded engines and other aerodynamic fea
tures of narrow-body flight pitch the aircraft ahead
of its wide-body counterpart in performance. For example, research has it that the
Boeing 737 possesses chances of a lower cost per available seat mile (CASM)
as against the wide-body 787- 800. Further amplifying the future of
narrow-body aircraft in aviation is the final bow of the Airbus 380- the
largest passenger plane in the world. The final A380 was manufactured
in 2021. The services of the A380 have been transferred to narrow-body
flights, which are more efficient options. In order to meet up with the looming demand for
narrow-body aircraft, the aviation giants; Airbus and Boeing have devised a means of tackling the
skyrocketing demand. Airbus hopes to produce up to 60 A320neo series jets per month in 2019, while
Boeing, on the other hand, plans to manufacture 57 737MAX per month simultaneously.
Meanwhile, the backorders are not waning. If these targets are met, it will usher in a
450% growth in narrow-body aircraft
, delivering aircraft between 2010 and 2024 than what was
delivered from 1958- to 2009 put together. This would reach a total annual
output of 1,680 narrow bodies, making up about four times the amount
of 2004’s 420 A320 and 737 deliveries. In like manner, Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC,
alongside the Pratt & Whitney unit of United Technologies, kick-started a joint venture in 2011
to develop engines for future narrow-body aircraft using Pratt’s turbofan technology. Also, they
will work in syner
gy with General Electric Co. to produce more advanced and efficient engines for
narrow-body aircraft; the companies envisioned a demand for the new aircraft totaling 20,000
or thereabout over the next 20 years, which in turn increases the demand for
single-aisle aircraft than that of the wide-body counterpart. The collaboration
was a result of Rolls-Royce's decline of the request to upgrade the
A320 neo produced by Airbus. Safe to say, a narrow-body flight
is the era of a new dispensation
in Aviation, with the demand is most
likely not dwindling anytime soon. Well, I do hope that this exposé on narrow-body
aircraft is filled with all that you desire to know. Quick one, with this shared knowledge of
narrow-body flight, will you be able to tell if or not an aircraft is a narrow-body or wide-body
flight? Let me know in the comment section. If you enjoy watching this video, do not forget
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