First Airbus A350 XWB for Thai

 Thai Airways International has received its first Airbus A350-900 XWB on 30th August 2016. The airline is the eighth operator of the new Airbus widebody type.

First Qatar A350 flight to Frankfurt

Qatar Airways performed the inaugural flight with the Airbus A350 XWB from Doha to Frankfurt on 15 January. The Qatar Airways A350 will be flying daily on the DOH-FRA route with 283 seats (36 business and 247 economy class) on board.

Qatar receives first Airbus A350XWB

Airbus has delivered the first A350 XWB to launch customer Qatar Airways on 22 December. It is the first A350 of 80 ordered by the airline.

From mid-January the aircraft will begin flying to Frankfurt. As soon as more aircraft are delivered, Qatar Airways will fly them to the United States, Asia and more destinations in Europe. At the end of November 2014, the A350 XWB had won 778 orders from 41 customers worldwide.

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First delivery of A350 delayed

The delivery of the first Airbus A350 XWB to Qatar Airways, planned for 13 December, has been delayed.

The carrier said in a statement: "Qatar Airways announces that the Airbus A350 aircraft ceremonial transfer of title has been postponed until further notice." The airline didn't give a reason for the delay, but delays are far from unusual for first deliveries to Qatar Airways. The airline was also very critical before accepting its first Airbus A380, recently, and this resulted in a three-month delay. The reason for the A380-delay were concerns about the quality of the cabin interior.

Qatar Airways has ordered 80 A350s: 43 -900s and 37 -1000s. (Photo: Airbus)

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First delivery of A350 on 13 December

The first delivery of the Airbus A350 to Qatar Airways is scheduled for 13 December. The official handover will take place in Toulouse, France.

Qatar Airways, the global launch customer for the A350, has ordered a total of 80 A350 XWB Family aircraft, including 43 A350-900s and 37 of the longer-fuselage A350-1000.

The carrier plans to commence commercial service with the A350 XWB between its Hamad International Airport hub in Doha, Qatar, and Frankfurt, Germany, in January.

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Finnair orders extra Airbus A350s

Finnair has ordered eight additional A350-900s. The airline has now a total of 19 A350-900s on order. In 2007 Finnair became a launch customer of the A350 when it placed an order for 11 A350-900s, including an option for a further eight.

The airline currently operates a mix of 15 Airbus A330s and A340s, which fly long-haul routes to Asia and America from its Helsinki hub. Finnair will be the first European airline in autumn 2015 to receive the new Airbus widebody jet. Finnair’s A350 XWBs will seat 297 passengers in a two class configuration. (Image: Airbus)

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Delta orders 50 Airbus widebodies

The champagne glasses in Toulouse, Hamburg and other places with Airbus-plants can be filled. Delta Air Lines has placed a firm order for 50 new Airbus widebody aircraft: 25 A350-900 XWB and 25 A330-900neo aircraft.

The A330neo jets will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines and the Trent XWB will power the A350 XWBs.

Airbus A350 XWB makes Asian tour

An Airbus A350-900 has taken off from Toulouse for an 11-day demo tour in Asia. Airbus is going to show its newest airliner in South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

The Asian Demo Tour follows the completion of the A350-900 flight test campaign which recently led to the EASA and FAA type certification. The tour is performed by test aircraft MSN5, which has a fully functional cabin (42 business class and 223 economy class seats).

First Vietnam A350 rolls out of assembly hall

The first Airbus A350 XWB for Vietnam Airlines, to be leased from AerCap, has just moved to station 30 at the Roger Béteille Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse, France. This new milestone marks the completion of some of the major airframe assembly as well as the successful first electrical power-on. In station 30, the aircraft will now undergo ground tests, while the cabin installation initiated in the previous station (station 40) will be continued.

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Common type rating pilot training for A350 and A330

European and US civil aviation authorities have approved common type rating pilot training on the Airbus A350 XWB and A330 widebody jetliners.

The approval means that pilots who are qualified and current on the A330 can already commence their preparations to take the A350 XWB’s controls by undergoing "differences training" only.

First Qatar Airways A350 makes maiden flight

The Airbus A350-900 XWB for launch customer Qatar Airways has completed its maiden flight today.

Qatar Airways will receive the aircraft before the end of the year, says Airbus. The airline has 80 A350s on order, including 43 A350-900 and 37 of the larger A350-1000.

At the end of September 2014, the A350 XWB had won 750 orders from 39 customers worldwide. (Photo: Airbus)

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Qatar A350 XWB in full colours

Airbus has published photographs of the first A350 XWB to be delivered to Qatar Airways later this year. The aircraft is in its full colour scheme now. On the picture it is being rolled out of the paintshop.

This week Airbus received European certification for the new widebody airliner. Teams of Airbus and Qatar Airways are working now to ensure a smooth hand-over process for the aircraft, with the final steps before delivery including cabin completion, as well as ground and flight tests. (Photo: Airbus)

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A350 for Vietnam Airlines enters final assembly

Airbus has started final assembly of the first A350 XWB for Vietnam Airlines.

The aircraft is scheduled for delivery in mid-2015. Vietnam Airlines will then be the first Asian airline to fly the A350 XWB and the second operator in the world of the all-new widebody after Qatar Airways. Vietnam Airlines has 10 A350 XWBs on order.

To date, the A350 XWB has won 750 firm orders from 39 customers worldwide.

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Airbus A350 XWB is airworthy

Airbus has received type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the A350-900 today. Certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expected to follow shortly.

Test programme A350 in final stage

Airbus is in the final stage of the test programme of the A350-900 and has started route proving tests. These tests are to demonstrate readiness for airline operations and will include high airfield performance, auto-landing trials, and airport turnaround and handling services. Some flights will have passengers on board. The A350 world tour itinerary includes fourteen major airports worldwide and one route via the North Pole.

The world tour is made by A350 MSN5, the fifth test aircraft, which has a fully functional cabin (42 business class and 223 economy class seats). The A350 flights will be operated by Airbus flight crews with the participation of Airworthiness Authority pilots from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The tests form part of the last trials required for aircraft Type Certification scheduled for Q3 this year. The first airline delivery, to Qatar Airways, will follow towards the end of the year.

The three week trial (four trips) starts in Toulouse, France. Trip one includes destinations such as Canada via the north-pole and Frankfurt. Trip two to Asia includes visits to Hong Kong and Singapore. The third trip goes around the world and brings the aircraft to Johannesburg and Sydney. From Sydney it will fly to Auckland, followed by Santiago de Chile and Sao Paulo before returning to Toulouse. On the fourth and final trip the A350 will depart from Toulouse to Doha, the homebase of launch customer Qatar Airways, then onto Perth and back to Doha. From Doha it will fly to Moscow, then to Helsinki from where it will fly back to Toulouse.

Airbus has five development A350s flying. The test programme has reached over 540 flights and 2,250 flight hours.

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A350 performs rejected take-off test

Airbus has achieved a new milestone in the A350 test program. It has successfully performed the ‘Maximum Energy Rejected Take-Off’ (MERTO) test with the A350 MSN001 on the morning of Saturday 19th July at Istres Air Force Base in France. MERTO, which follows on from the previous ‘High Energy Rejected Take-Off’ (HERTO) preparation test conducted by MSN001 two months ago, is a part of the mandatory series of tests for Certification.

The latest test is to confirm the braking system’s ability to safely stop the aircraft following a rejected take-off at high speed and high weight – using a set of worn-out brakes. As these brakes absorb the kinetic energy of the aircraft, they glow bright orange and reach a temperature of around 1,400 degrees centigrade by the time the aircraft has safely come to a standstill, whereupon the tires are deflated by special fuses. According to certification requirements, the aircraft then has to stay put for five minutes unassisted, after which firefighters are allowed to spray the wheels and brakes to cool them.

MERTO is the A350 XWB programme’s final major test before MSN005, one of two cabin-equipped development aircraft, embarks on ‘Route Proving’ in July. The programme has to date achieved more than 2,250 flight hours in around 540 flights, and is on track for certification in Q3. First delivery to Qatar Airways will follow in Q4.

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