Airbus · Widebody · In Service
Airbus A350-900ULR
Glenn Beltz — CC BY 2.0
The Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range) is a specialized variant of the baseline A350-900 widebody twinjet, engineered explicitly to conquer extreme intercontinental routes. Developed to fill the operational void left by retired four-engine types, it incorporates a modified fuel system that expands its capacity by 24,000 liters within existing tank spaces without requiring auxiliary fuel drums. Coupled with aerodynamic enhancements including extended winglets, the ULR achieves an exceptional range capability designed for missions exceeding 20 hours.
Its strategic significance centers on ultra-long-haul point-to-point connectivity. Rather than maximizing passenger volume, the aircraft is traditionally configured by launch operator Singapore Airlines with a lower-density, two-class layout consisting strictly of business class and premium economy seating. This configuration reduces payload weight to optimize fuel burn, enabling record-breaking commercial circuits such as the nonstop link between Singapore and New York.
By The Numbers
The Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range) is a niche, highly specialized variant built to conquer the world's longest commercial routes. Airbus manufactured a dedicated sub-fleet of 7 aircraft for the type, all of which were delivered exclusively to its launch customer, Singapore Airlines.
Today, Singapore Airlines remains the sole operator of the A350-900ULR, deploying the jets out of its Changi hub to heavy-demand ultra-long-haul destinations in North America—including nonstop routes to New York (JFK and Newark)—leveraging the aircraft's modified fuel system and maximized structural payload capacity.
Manufacturing
Where It's Built
Final assembly of the Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range) takes place at the dedicated A350 Final Assembly Line located at the Louis Bréguet site in Toulouse, France (Colomiers). Like the baseline A350-900, the ULR variant relies on a highly decentralized, cross-border European manufacturing network where major structural sections and systems are fabricated across specialized partner facilities and transported to Toulouse primarily via Beluga heavy-lift transport aircraft.
Key structural and systems suppliers include:
- Wings: Engineered in Filton and manufactured from carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers at Broughton in the United Kingdom, with auxiliary composite work handled in Stade and Bremen, Germany, and Illescas, Spain.
- Fuselage Sections: The forward fuselage is built in Nordenham, Germany; center fuselage panels and structure components are manufactured in Nantes, France; and aft fuselage components are fabricated in Nordenham and Stade, Germany.
- Empennage & Tail: The vertical stabilizer is produced in Stade, Germany, while the horizontal tail plane (horizontal stabilizer) is manufactured in Getafe, Spain.
- Flight Controls & Actuation: Primary flight control actuators are supplied by Moog, slat actuators by Liebherr, and horizontal tail trim actuators by Collins Aerospace. Flight control computers and avionics architectures are integrated via Thales and Honeywell systems.
- Landing Gear: Main and nose landing gear assemblies are provided by Safran Landing Systems (formerly Goodrich integration).
Regarding program development costs, a precise, isolated public figure for the minor derivative sub-program of the A350-900ULR—which primarily incorporates an optimized fuel system utilizing existing fuel tanks without auxiliary bladders alongside specific aerodynamic refinements—is not independently itemized by Airbus. However, the foundational widebody A350 clean-sheet development program (from which the ULR derives) is historically cited by industry analysts and financial reports as costing approximately €3.5 billion at its 2005 industrial launch, with total enterprise baseline development estimates scaling near $15 billion.
Notable Operators
Sources & Further Reading