Since the end of World War II until the nineties, the long-haul traffic was the preserve almost closed to U.S. manufacturers. But today, Europe, Airbus has achieved half of this market.
Unos 650 aviones de dos pasillos forman hoy la flota en servicio de largo recorrido de las aerolíneas europeas. De ellos, Airbus y Boeing se reparten «el pastel» casi al 50 por ciento: 334 de Airbus frente a 314 de Boeing, con tan sólo una presencia anecdótica (en torno al 3 por ciento) de aviones de McDonnell Douglas (17 MD-11), y soviéticos/rusos (6 II-96), aunque en este caso, no debemos olvidar que los demás aviones de largo recorrido: II-62 e II-86, fueron prohibidos hace años en los cielos de medio mundo por sus emisiones sonoras, y por ese mismo motivo no los hemos contabilizado al prestar tan sólo servicios internos y hacia países de África y Asia donde todavía have not been banned.
The long-haul commercial aviation can say that began with the end of the Second World War. Existed before, but it was after this when she stopped being an adventure reserved for the few to become an experience for everyone.
Douglas was the first that dominated the market while models like the Boeing 377 had a much smaller spread. Much of this success, however, was due to the thousands of war surplus aircraft, especially C-54 (DC-4) that the USAF made available to anyone who had a few dollars to buy them, let alone the C-47 (DC-3) for short and medium range. After
come as more advanced aircraft DC-7 and L-1049 and capable of uniting Europe and the U.S. really nonstop. If these aircraft departed the previous most prominent routes, his reign was short, replaced in turn by the first reactor.
The Comet, B-707 and DC-8 at the beginning they had the autonomy to fly from London or Paris, for example, New York, without having to stop at Prestwick (United Kingdom) and Gander (Canada) but soon developed variants capable. The DC-8, for example, became able to fly from Madrid to Santiago de Chile nonstop.
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Then came, as in the seventies, the reign of the fuselage widths: B-747, DC-10 and L-1011, of which lleqó to be more than 350 units at one time or another in Europe.
If in the fifties and sixties had begun to appear timid cheaper fares, even with differentiated services, tourist class, sometimes the airlines had two flights, one standard and one in economy class, with the arrival of wide fuselage can say that air transport "democratize" allowing more people to fly. It was in 1958, for example, when I first crossed the North Atlantic passenger plane over by boat.
However, this growth was not a cheap company. The airlines offer US and Europe, to name a very specific market, far exceeding demand. Every day there are available seats equivalent to several B-747 that was never filled.
Thus, although in the eighties, British Airways and other airlines best planes have talked about 1,000 seats in 20 years, the reality became apparent, and the next generation long-haul aircraft was much more conservative in size, while the economy of the operation became one of the pillars of aircraft design.
In the sixties and early seventies, even after the 1973 oil crisis, fuel was relatively cheap (even if you adjust for inflation, in the late seventies, the oil, and therefore fuel was more expensive than today, a barrel was the current equivalent of about $ 90), although in the international market and are being signed futures contracts, known as ACORN, 100 or more dollars a barrel.
At that time the aircraft flew over fast: the cruise came to exceed Mach 0.85 and there was no speed restriction below 10,000 feet today. Aircraft like the B-747. B-727 or Convair CV-990A, with its high cruise speeds, close to the speed of sound, would be unthinkable today, given the increase in consumption this entails. Many speed records set today then they are unique according to what is now considered the standard of flight. The B-737-200 does not fly at Mach 0.79 by design, if not at that speed is much cheaper than to 0.82.
On the other hand, Europe and the United States have always been differentiated in the way they build things. Americans opt for power mattresses and security, in Europe, seeks the economy and, to some extent, the beauty of design. Do not forget that many European aircraft (and not just referring to "European" as a synonym for Airbus), has said he rose through the curving Earth beneath them.
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