First Airbus A350-1000 takes to skies as testing begins
The first A350-1000 took off this morning for its maiden flight at Blagnac in Toulouse, France at 10:42.
The A350-1000 is Airbus’ largest and most powerful twin-engined airliner ever – and the world’s most fuel efficient large wide-body plane.
Equipped with specially developed Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 turbofans, the A350-1000’s first flight is taking place over south-western France.
Benefitting from the experience of the original A350-900 test campaign (accomplished in 2014), the A350-1000’s development programme will be shorter – under one year for the three aircraft.
The overall campaign will culminate in the type’s certification followed by its entry into airline service scheduled for the second half of 2017.
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The A350-1000 is the latest member of the Airbus leading wide-body family, together with the A330neo, offering unprecedented levels of operating efficiency, low noise and true long-range capability.
As well as having a longer fuselage to accommodate 40 more passengers than the A350-900, the A350-1000 also features a modified wing trailing-edge, new six-wheel main landing gears and more powerful Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines.
The Airbus A350-1000 first flight crew ahead of takeoff
The A350-1000 embodies all of the fuel efficiency and ‘Airspace’ cabin comfort of the original A350-900 – but with extra size perfectly tailored for our customers on some of their busiest long-haul routes.
To date 11 customers from five continents have placed orders for a total of 195 A350-1000s.