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.

Airbus delivers first A330 Regional to Saudia

Saudi Arabian Airlines, has taken delivery of its first A330-300 Regional. Saudia is launch customer for this new version of the A330. The airline has ordered 20 aircraft of the 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.

First 242 tonne A330 flies

Airbus has flown the first 242 tonne Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) variant of the A330-300 for the first time on Monday 12 January. The maiden flight, departing from Toulouse Blagnac Airport, lasted 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Avolon firms up A330neo order

The Dublin-based, global aircraft leasing firm Avolon has firmed up an earlier announced contract for 15 Airbus A330neo aircraft.

Avolon became one of the launch customers of the A330neo after signing its initial commitment in July 2014 at the Farnborough International Airshow. The number of firm orders for the A330neo is now well over one hundred aircraft. (Image: Airbus)

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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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Hawaiian finalises A330-800neo order

Hawaiian Airlines has finalised an order for six Airbus A330-800neo aircraft for which it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in July of this year.

Etihad receives first Airbus A380

Today, Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi has taken delivery of the first of ten Airbus A380 super jumbo's. Etihad is the thirteenth airline to operate the A380, and the aircraft is the 150th A380 delivered by Airbus.

With the aircraft Etihad intends to boost capacity on several of its busiest routes. Etihad’s A380 seats 498 passengers in four "living spaces", including two VIP passengers in The Residence by Etihad (a three-room cabin in the sky), nine in the First Apartments, 70 in the Business Studio, and 417 in Economy SmartSeats.

Etihad’s first A380 will make its debut on the popular London Heathrow route, from Abu Dhabi International Airport, in December. By the end of 2015, Etihad Airways will have five A380s in operation, with plans to introduce the aircraft on the airline’s Sydney and New York JFK routes.

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AirAsia X orders 55 A330neo aircraft

AirAsia X, the long haul affiliate of Asia’s largest low cost airline, has placed a firm order with Airbus for 55 A330neo aircraft. This is the largest single order to date for the A330 Family.

AirAsia X already was the biggest A330 airline customer worldwide. It has now ordered a total of 91 aircraft. The announcement covers the firming up of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 50 A330neo signed during the Farnborough Air Show in July 2014, plus an additional five aircraft. Deliveries of the newly-ordered aircraft will begin in 2018.

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Airbus: upgrade or stop A380 Superjumbo

Airbus will have to install more seats in the A380 and at some moment have to decide whether to upgrade the A380 with new engines or stop production of the Superjumbo.

On Wednesday Airbus Chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm was quoted in the media that Airbus might decide to stop production at the end of the decennium. According to Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier today the A380 will break even during the next few years and that the aircraft manufacturer will have to decide between an upgrade or production stop.

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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Airbus A330-200s for long-haul Eurowings

Lufthansa launches a new low-cost long-haul airline under the Eurowings brand. The renewed subsidiary airline will start operations in late 2015 from Cologne/Bonn Airport. Lufthansa will lease up to seven Airbus A330-200 aircraft for the new operation.

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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CIT firms up A330neo order

Aircraft leasing company CIT Aerospace has firmed up its order for 15 A330-900neo aircraft. CIT became one of the launch customers of the A330neo after signing its initial agreement in July 2014, at the Farnborough International Airshow. CIT also ordered five A321ceo narrowbody aircraft. (Image: Airbus)

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Airbus A330 MRTT for French air force

The French government has announced an order for twelve Airbus A330 multirole tanker and transport aircraft for its military services.

The first aircraft will be delivered in 2018, the second in 2019 and then two per year until the order is complete. The aircraft will replace obsolete Boeing C-135FR tankers in use since the 1960s.

Main task of the A330 MRTT is in-flight refueling of other aircraft. Air forces already using the A330 tanker-transport version, are those of the UK, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

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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 launches A330 Beluga

Airbus has launched the development and production of five new Beluga aircraft. The new Belugas will be based on the A330 with a large re-use of existing components and equipment.
The first of the five new Belugas will enter in service in mid-2019. The existing Beluga fleet will operate in parallel, and will be progressively retired through to 2025.

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).

Airbus A350-900 receives FAA Type Certificate

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted Type Certification for the Airbus A350-900 on 12 November. The certification follows the A350-900 Type Certification awarded by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on 30 September.

The A350-900’s respective FAA and EASA certification awards come after Airbus successfully finished a stringent programme of certification trials. A fleet of five test A350-900 aircraft completed the certification flight test campaign, on time, in more than 2,600 flight test hours.

At the end of October 2014, the A350 XWB had won 750 orders from 39 customers worldwide.

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