Last days, first Airbus A350-1000 XWB received factory livery. Next is the engine mounting Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97. By the end of the year, the aircraft A350-1000 (F-WMIL / 0059) test flight operations will begin. The commercial debut will be on 2017, alongside Qatar Airways.
Airbus A350-1000 XWB It is approximately 74 meters long, being the longest aircraft built by Airbus. In a classic configuration with 3 fare categories, it can carry up to 366 passengers. Flight range will be up to 14 800 kilometers.
Airbus A350-1000 XWB in factory livery
Airbus has designed A350-1000 to replace the current A340-600, but also a competitor for the current Boeing 777-300ER and the future Boeing 777X. An important change, the main landing gear has 6 wheels instead of 4 as we can see in the current A350-900. It is similar to the one found in triple seven.
Assembly of the main components began in September 2015. In February 2016, the final assembly at the Airbus base in Toulouse began. 3 A350-1000 aircraft will be built for testing.
A350-1000 will be able to operate long-haul flights, such as Shanghai-Boston or Paris-Santiago. It can also be implemented on more traditional flight segments, such as Manchester-Los Angeles or Dubai-Melbourne. All this while the fuel consumption will be lower by 25% compared to the nearest competitor.
The list of airlines that have ordered Airbus A350-1000 aircraft includes names such as: Qatar Airways, Asiana, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Japan Airlines, Latam and United Airlines.