Airbus A350XWB Aircraft Profile

Airbus A350 XWB Aircraft History-

Originally the Airbus A350 concept resembled the Airbus A330 with a modified wing design, engines and a horizontal stabilizer coupled with new composite materials and production methods.

In December 2004 the boards of EADS and BAE Systems, then the shareholders of Airbus, gave Airbus an "authorisation to offer (ATO)", and formally named it the A350.

At the Farnborough Air Show in July 2006, Airbus announced the Airbus A350 XWB (Xtra Wide-Body). First delivery for the Airbus A350-900 is scheduled for mid-2013, with the -800 and -1000 following on, respectively, 12 and 24 months later..

The fuselage was to consist primarily of aluminium-lithium alloys, rather than carbon fiber reinforced plastic. It was intended to enter service in 2010 in two versions; the Airbus A350-800 capable of flying 16,300km with typical passenger capacity of 253 in 3-class configuration and the Airbus A350-900 with a 13,890 km range and typical 300-seat 3-class configuration.

Airbus faced criticism on the Airbus A350 XWB program by potential customers. Airbus responded by stating it was considering improvements for the A350 to satisfy customer demands, and in 2006 Airbus undertook a major review of the A350 concept. The proposed new A350 was to become more of a competitor to the larger Boeing 777 as well as some models of the Boeing 787, with a larger fuselage cross-section able to accommodate 9 passengers per row in economy class.

Read more about the history of Airbus A350 XWB in the Flight Archive

Airbus A350 videos-

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