Qatar Airways’ first Airbus A350-900 has taken off from Toulouse, marking the maiden flight of a serial production A350 airframe.

The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft, MSN6, departed at around 14:20.

Airbus is aiming to deliver the jet before the end of this year. Qatar Airways chief Akbar Al Baker has indicated that the aircraft could be handed over within the first two weeks of December.

The A350 secured European Aviation Safety Agency certification at the end of September.

Airbus has orders for 549 of the -900 variant out of a total of 750 across the A350 family.

Source: Cirium Dashboard