The Airbus A350 is a
long-range,
wide-body
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabin ...
twin-engine
A twinjet or twin-engine jet is a jet aircraft powered by two engines. A twinjet is able to fly well enough to land with a single working engine, making it safer than a single-engine aircraft in the event of failure of an engine. Fuel efficien ...
jet airliner
A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly clas ...
developed and produced by
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
.
The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American Wide-body aircraft, wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Boeing Sonic Cruiser, Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced th ...
, would have been a development of the
A330 with composite wings and new engines.
As market support was inadequate, in 2006, Airbus switched to a clean-sheet "XWB" (eXtra Wide Body) design, powered by two
Rolls-Royce Trent XWB
The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is a high bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc.
In July 2006, the Trent XWB was selected to power exclusively the Airbus A350.
The first engine was run on 14 June 2010,
it first flew on an A380 testbed on 18 ...
turbofan engines.
The prototype first flew on 14 June 2013 from
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Type certification from the
European Aviation Safety Agency
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monito ...
(EASA) was obtained in September 2014, followed by certification from the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
(FAA) two months later.
The A350 is the first Airbus aircraft largely made of
carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
.
It has a new fuselage designed around a nine-abreast economy cross-section, up from the eight-abreast A330/A340. It has a common
type rating with the A330.
The airliner has two variants: the A350-900 typically carries 300 to 350 passengers over a 15,000-kilometre (8,100-nautical-mile) range, and has a 283-tonne (617,300-pound)
maximum takeoff weight
The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...
(MTOW); the longer A350-1000 accommodates 350 to 410 passengers and has a maximum range of 16,100 km (8,700 nmi) and a 319 t (703,200 lb) MTOW.
On 15 January 2015, the initial A350-900 entered service with
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netwo ...
, followed by the A350-1000 on 24 February 2018 with the same launch customer.
,
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...
is the largest operator with 61 airplanes in its fleet.
A350 orders stood at 919 aircraft, of which 499 had been delivered and all were in service with 39 operators. The global A350 fleet had completed more than 870,000 flights on more than 910 routes without accidents.
It succeeds the
A340
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel wit ...
and competes against
Boeing's large long-haul
twinjet
A twinjet or twin-engine jet is a jet aircraft powered by two engines. A twinjet is able to fly well enough to land with a single working engine, making it safer than a single-engine aircraft in the event of failure of an engine. Fuel efficien ...
s: the
787
787 may refer to:
* Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a jet airliner
* AD 787, a year
* 787 BC, a year
* Mazda 787/787B, a Japanese rotary-engine race car which won the 1991 Le Mans Race
* Porsche 787, a race car from the 1960s
* 787 series, a train model o ...
, the
777
777 may refer to:
* 777 (number), a number
* AD 777, a year of the Julian calendar
* 777 BC, a year in the 8th century BC
* Boeing 777, a commercial jet airliner
:* Boeing 777X, the newer generation of the Boeing 777.
Art and entertainment Albu ...
, and its successor, the
777X
The Boeing 777X is the latest series of the long-range, wide-body, twin-engine jetliners in the Boeing 777 family from Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 777X features new GE9X engines, new composite wings with folding wingtips, greater cabin w ...
.
Development
Background and early designs
Airbus initially rejected Boeing's claim that the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American Wide-body aircraft, wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Boeing Sonic Cruiser, Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced th ...
would be a serious threat to the
Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
, stating that the 787 was just a reaction to the A330 and that no response was needed. When airlines urged Airbus to provide a competitor, Airbus initially proposed the "A330-200Lite", a derivative of the A330 featuring improved aerodynamics and engines similar to those on the 787. The company planned to announce this version at the 2004
Farnborough Airshow
The Farnborough Airshow, officially the Farnborough International Airshow, is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors. Since its fir ...
, but did not proceed.
On 16 September 2004, Airbus president and chief executive officer
Noël Forgeard
Noël Forgeard (born 8 December 1946 in La Ferté-Gaucher) is a French industrialist and former joint CEO of EADS.
Appointment
From April 1998 until June 2005, Forgeard was CEO of the aircraft manufacturer Airbus SAS.
In late 2004, he was nom ...
confirmed the consideration of a new project during a private meeting with prospective customers. Forgeard did not give a project name, and did not state whether it would be an entirely new design or a modification of an existing product. Airline dissatisfaction with this proposal motivated Airbus to commit €4 billion to a new airliner design.
On 10 December 2004, Airbus' shareholders,
EADS
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
and
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenue ...
, approved the "authorisation to offer" for the A350, expecting a 2010 service entry.
Airbus then expected to win more than half of the 250-300 seat aircraft market, estimated at 3,100 aircraft overall over 20 years.
Based on the A330, the 245-seat A350-800 was to fly over a 8,600 nmi (15,900 km) range and the 285-seat A350-900 over a 7,500 nmi (13,900 km) range.
Fuel efficiency
Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device ...
would improve by over 10% with a mostly
carbon fibre reinforced polymer
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), ...
wing and initial
General Electric GEnx
The General Electric GEnx ("General Electric Next-generation") is an advanced dual rotor, axial flow, high-bypass turbofan jet engine in production by GE Aviation for the Boeing 787 and 747-8. The GEnx is intended to succeed the CF6 in GE's p ...
-72A1 engines, before offering a choice of powerplant.
It had a common
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
cross-section with the A330 and also a new
horizontal stabiliser
A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplan ...
.
On 13 June 2005 at the
Paris Air Show
The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the Frenc ...
, Middle Eastern carrier
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netwo ...
announced that they had placed an order for 60 A350s. In September 2006 the airline signed a
memorandum of understanding with
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...
(GE) to launch the GEnx-1A-72 engine for the aircraft.
Emirates
Emirates may refer to:
* United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country
* Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir
** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf
** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates
* The Emirat ...
sought a more improved design and decided against ordering the initial version of the A350.
On 6 October 2005, the programme's industrial launch was announced with an estimated development cost of around €3.5 billion.
The A350 was initially planned to be a 250- to 300-seat twin-engine
wide-body aircraft
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy c ...
derived from the existing A330's design. Under this plan, the A350 would have modified wings and new engines while sharing the A330's fuselage cross-section. For this design, the fuselage was to consist primarily of
aluminium-lithium rather than the
carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
(CFRP) fuselage on the Boeing 787. The A350 would see entry in two versions: the A350-800 with a range with a typical passenger capacity of 253 in a three-class configuration, and the A350-900 with range and a 300-seat 3-class configuration. The A350 was designed to be a direct competitor to the Boeing 787-9 and
777-200ER.
The original A350 design was publicly criticised by two of Airbus's largest customers,
International Lease Finance Corporation
The International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) was an aircraft lessor headquartered in the Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles, California, US.
It was the world's largest aircraft lessor by value, though ILFC's rival, General El ...
(ILFC) and
GE Capital Aviation Services
GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services) was an Irish–American commercial aviation financing and leasing company. AerCap acquired the company from GE Capital on November 1, 2021.
GECAS was the largest commercial airline leasing/financing company ...
(GECAS). On 28 March 2006, ILFC President
Steven F. Udvar-Házy urged Airbus to pursue a clean-sheet design or risk losing market share to Boeing and branded Airbus's strategy as "a Band-aid reaction to the 787", a sentiment echoed by GECAS president Henry Hubschman.
[Gates, D]
"Airplane kingpins tell Airbus: Overhaul A350"
. ''Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...
'', 29 March 2006[Hamilton, S]
"Redesigning the A350: Airbus' tough choice"
. Leeham Company In April 2006, while reviewing bids for the Boeing 787 and A350, CEO of
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...
(SIA)
Chew Choon Seng, commented that "having gone through the trouble of designing a new wing, tail, cockpit...
irbusshould have gone the whole hog and designed a new fuselage."
[Michaels, D. and Lunsford, J.L]
"Singapore Airlines Says Airbus Needs to Make A350 Improvements"
. ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', 7 April 2006
Airbus responded that they were considering A350 improvements to satisfy customer demands. Airbus's then-CEO
Gustav Humbert stated, "Our strategy isn't driven by the needs of the next one or two campaigns, but rather by a long-term view of the market and our ability to deliver on our promises."
[Associated Press]
"Airbus Considering Improvements to A350"
. Seattle Times, 10 April 2006. As major airlines such as
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...
and Singapore Airlines selected the 787 over the A350, Humbert tasked an engineering team to produce new alternative designs.
One such proposal, known internally as "1d", formed the basis of the A350 redesign.
Redesign and launch
![A350XWB model ILA 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/A350XWB_model_ILA_2008.png)
On 14 July 2006, during the Farnborough International Airshow, the redesigned aircraft was designated "A350 XWB" (Xtra-Wide-Body). Within four days, Singapore Airlines agreed to order 20 A350 XWBs with
options
Option or Options may refer to:
Computing
*Option key, a key on Apple computer keyboards
*Option type, a polymorphic data type in programming languages
*Command-line option, an optional parameter to a command
*OPTIONS, an HTTP request method
...
for another 20 A350 XWBs.
The proposed A350 was a new design, including a wider fuselage cross-section, allowing seating arrangements ranging from an eight-abreast low-density premium economy layout to a ten-abreast high-density seating configuration for a maximum
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...
of 440–475 depending on variant.
The A330 and previous iterations of the A350 would only be able to accommodate a maximum of eight seats per row. The 787 is typically configured for nine seats per row. The 777 accommodates nine or ten seats per row, with more than half of recent 777s being configured in a ten-abreast layout that will come standard on the
777X
The Boeing 777X is the latest series of the long-range, wide-body, twin-engine jetliners in the Boeing 777 family from Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 777X features new GE9X engines, new composite wings with folding wingtips, greater cabin w ...
. The A350 cabin is wider at the eye level of a seated passenger than the 787's cabin, and narrower than the Boeing 777's cabin (see the
Wide-body aircraft comparison of cabin widths and seating). All A350 passenger models have a range of at least . The redesigned composite fuselage allows for higher cabin pressure and humidity, and lower maintenance costs.
On 1 December 2006, the Airbus board of directors approved the industrial launch of the A350-800, -900, and -1000 variants.
The delayed launch decision was a result of delays to the
Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
and discussions on how to fund development. EADS CEO
Thomas Enders stated that the A350 programme was not a certainty, citing EADS/Airbus's stretched resources.
However, it was decided programme costs are to be borne mainly from cash-flow. First delivery for the A350-900 was scheduled for mid-2013, with the -800 and -1000 following on 12 and 24 months later, respectively.
New technical details of the A350 XWB were revealed at a press conference in December 2006. Chief operating officer, John Leahy indicated existing A350 contracts were being re-negotiated due to price increases compared to the original A350s contracted. On 4 January 2007,
Pegasus Aviation Finance Company
Pegasus Aviation, Inc. or the Pegasus Aviation Finance Company was a US based aircraft lessor formed in 1988. It was one of the world's largest commercial aircraft lessors, with a fleet of over 200 aircraft. It had its headquarters on the 35th fl ...
placed the first firm order for the A350 XWB with an order for two aircraft.
The design change imposed a two-year delay into the original timetable and increased development costs from US$5.3 billion (€5.5 billion) to approximately US$10 billion (€9.7 billion).
["Airbus A350 Cost Rises to $15.4 Billion on Composites"](_blank)
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...
. 4 December 2006 ''Reuters'' estimated the A350's total development cost at US$15 billion (€12 billion or £10 billion).
Reuters The original mid-2013 delivery date of the A350 was changed, as a longer than anticipated development forced Airbus to delay the final assembly and first flight of the aircraft to the third quarter of 2012 and second quarter of 2013 respectively. As a result, the
flight test
Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...
schedule was compressed from the original 15 months to 12 months. A350 programme chief Didier Evrard stressed that delays only affected the A350-900 while the -800 and -1000 schedules remained unchanged.
Design phase
![A350xwb nose 2009B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/A350xwb_nose_2009B.png)
Airbus suggested Boeing's use of
composite material
A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...
s for the 787 fuselage was premature, and that the new A350 XWB was to feature large
carbon fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
panels for the main fuselage skin. After facing criticism for maintenance costs, Airbus confirmed in early September 2007 the adoption of composite fuselage frames for the aircraft structure. The composite frames would feature aluminium strips to ensure the electrical continuity of the fuselage, for dissipating lightning strikes. Airbus used a full
mock up fuselage to develop the wiring, a different approach from the A380, on which the wiring was all done on computers.
In 2006, Airbus confirmed development of a full
bleed air
Bleed air is compressed air taken from the compressor stage of a gas turbine upstream of its fuel-burning sections. Automatic air supply and cabin pressure controller (ASCPCs) valves bleed air from high or low stage engine compressor sections. Lo ...
system on the A350, as opposed to the 787's bleedless configuration.
[Steinke, S]
"Airbus Unveils A350 XWB"
''Flug Revue Flug is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Karnit Flug (born 1955), Polish-born Israeli economist and government official
* Noach Flug (1925–2011), Israeli economist and diplomat
*Vasily Flug
Vasily Yegorovich Flug (March 1 ...
''. September 2006. Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
agreed with Airbus to supply a new variant of the
Trent turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
engine for the A350 XWB, named ''
Trent XWB
The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is a high bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc.
In July 2006, the Trent XWB was selected to power exclusively the Airbus A350.
The first engine was run on 14 June 2010,
it first flew on an A380 testbed on 18 ...
''. In 2010, after low-speed wind tunnel tests, Airbus finalised the static thrust at sea level for all three proposed variants to the range.
GE stated it would not offer the
GP7000
The Engine Alliance GP7000 is a turbofan jet engine manufactured by Engine Alliance, a joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. It is one of the powerplant options available for the Airbus A380, along with the Rolls-Royce Tren ...
engine on the aircraft, and that previous contracts for the
GEnx on the original A350 did not apply to the XWB.
Engine Alliance
The Engine Alliance (EA) is an American aircraft engine manufacturer based in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company is a 50/50 joint venture between GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, and Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Raytheon ...
partner
Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military av ...
seemed to be unaligned with GE on this, having publicly stated that it was looking at an advanced derivative of the GP7000. In April 2007, former Airbus CEO Louis Gallois held direct talks with GE management over developing a GEnx variant for the A350 XWB. In June 2007, John Leahy indicated that the A350 XWB would not feature the GEnx engine, saying that Airbus wanted GE to offer a more efficient version for the airliner. Since then, the largest GE engines operators, which include Emirates,
US Airways
US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon ...
,
Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines ( haw, Hui Mokulele o Hawaiʻi ) is the largest operator of commercial flights to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the United States, and is based at Honolulu, Hawaii. The airl ...
and ILFC have selected the Trent XWB for their A350 orders. In May 2009, GE said that if it were to reach a deal with Airbus to offer the current 787-optimised GEnx for the A350, it would only power the -800 and -900 variants. GE believed it could offer a product that outperforms the
Trent 1000
The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 is a high-bypass turbofan engine produced by Rolls-Royce plc, one of the two engine options for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, competing with the General Electric GEnx.
It first ran on 14 February 2006 and first flew on ...
and Trent XWB, but was reluctant to support an aircraft competing directly with its GE90-115B-powered 777 variants.
In January 2008, French-based
Thales Group
Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Pari ...
won a US$2.9 billion (€2 billion) 20-year contract to supply avionics and navigation equipment for the A350 XWB, beating
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
and
Rockwell Collins
Rockwell Collins was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radio Co ...
.
US-based Rockwell Collins and
Moog Inc.
Moog ( ) is an American-based designer and manufacturer of electric, electro-hydraulic and hydraulic motion, controls and systems for applications in aerospace, defense, industrial and medical devices. The company operates under four segments: a ...
were chosen to supply the horizontal stabiliser actuator and primary flight control actuation, respectively. The flight management system incorporated several new safety features. Regarding cabin ergonomics and entertainment, in 2006 Airbus signed a firm contract with
BMW for development of an interior concept for the original A350. On 4 February 2010, Airbus signed a contract with
Panasonic Avionics Corporation to deliver in-flight entertainment and communication (IFEC) systems for the Airbus A350 XWB.
Production
![Airbus A350-941 on the assembly line in Toulouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Airbus_A350-941_on_the_assembly_line_in_Toulouse.jpg)
In 2008, Airbus planned to start cabin furnishing early in parallel with final assembly to cut production time in half. The A350 XWB production programme sees extensive international collaboration and investments in new facilities: Airbus constructed 10 new factories in Western Europe and the US, with extensions carried out on three further sites.
Among the new buildings was a £570 million (US$760 million or €745 million) composite facility in
Broughton, Wales, which would be responsible for the wings. In June 2009, the
National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...
announced provision of a £28 million grant to provide a training centre, production jobs and money toward the new production centre.
Airbus manufactured the first structural component in December 2009. Production of the first fuselage barrel began in late 2010 at its production plant in
Illescas, Spain. Construction of the first A350-900 centre wingbox was set to start in August 2010. The new composite rudder plant in China opened in early 2011. The forward fuselage of the first A350 was delivered to the final assembly plant in Toulouse on 29 December 2011.
Final assembly of the first A350 static test model was started on 5 April 2012. Final assembly of the first prototype A350 was completed in December 2012.
In 2018, the unit cost of the A350-900 was
US$317.4 million and the A350-1000 was US$366.5 million.
The production rate was expected to rise from three aircraft per month in early 2015 to five at the end of 2015, and would ramp to ten aircraft per month by 2018.
In 2015, 17 planes would be delivered and the initial dispatch reliability was 98%.
Airbus announced plans to increase its production rate from 10 monthly in 2018 to 13 monthly from 2019 and six A330 are produced monthly. Around 90 deliveries were expected for 2018, with 15% or ≈ units being A350-1000 variants. That year, 93 aircraft were delivered, three more than expected.
In 2019, Airbus delivered 112 A350s (87 A350-900s and 25 A350-1000s) at a rate of 10 per month, and were going to keep the rate around nine to 10 per month, to reflect softer demand for widebodies, as the backlog reached 579 − or years of production at a constant rate.
The
coronavirus crisis caused the decrease of A350 production from 9.5 per month to six per month, since April 2020.
On 30 September 2022, on the occasion of the 500th delivery of the A350 programme, the new ''Production Standard 2022'' was introduced, which brings additional performance and cabin improvements for both A350-900 and A350-1000. Compared to previous standards, it brings a weight reduction of up to 1.2 tonnes by optimising systems and structures and increasing the use of advanced materials which already represent more than 70% of the aircraft. The Maximum Takeoff Weight is also increased by 3 tonnes allowing each model to maintain its maximum range capability, beyond 8,000 nm, while carrying an increased payload. The new standard comes with a wider interior cabin at armest level. This increase in cabin space allows airlines the flexibility to offer more than 30 additional seats in a typical 3-class configuration.
[
]
Testing and certification
The first Trent engine test was made on 14 June 2010. The Trent XWB's flight test programme began use on the A380 development aircraft in early 2011, ahead of engine certification in late 2011. On 2 June 2013, the Trent XWB engines were powered up on the A350 for the first time. Airbus confirmed that the flight test programme would last 12 months and use five test aircraft.
The A350's maiden flight took place on 14 June 2013 from the Toulouse–Blagnac Airport. Airbus's chief test pilot said, "it just seemed really happy in the air...all the things we were testing had no major issues at all." It flew for four hours, reaching Mach 0.8 at 25,000 feet after retracting the landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Mart ...
and starting a 2,500 h flight test campaign. Costs for developing the aircraft were estimated at €11 billion (US$15 billion or £9.5 billion) in June 2013.
A350 XWB msn. 2 underwent two-and-a-half weeks of climatic tests in the unique McKinley Climatic Laboratory
The McKinley Climatic Laboratory is both an active laboratory and a historic site located in Building 440 on Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The laboratory is part of the 96th Test Wing. In addition to Air Force testing, it can be used by other US ...
at Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County.
The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The 9 ...
, Florida, in May 2014, and was subjected to multiple climatic and humidity settings from a high of to as low as .
The A350 received type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monito ...
(EASA) on 30 September 2014. On 15 October 2014, EASA approved the A350-900 for ETOPS
ETOPS () is an acronym for ''Extended-range Twin-engine Operations Performance Standards''—a special part of flight rules for one-engine-inoperative flight conditions. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) coined the acronym for ...
370, allowing it to fly more than six hours on one engine and making it the first airliner to be approved for "ETOPS Beyond 180 minutes" before entry into service. Later that month Airbus received regulatory approval for a Common Type Rating for pilot training between the A350 XWB and A330. On 12 November 2014, the A350 received certification from the FAA. On 1 August 2017, the EASA issued an airworthiness directive
An Airworthiness Directive (commonly abbreviated as AD) is a notification to owners and operators of certified aircraft that a known safety deficiency with a particular model of aircraft, engine, avionics or other system exists and must be correct ...
mandating operators to power cycle (reset) early A350-900s before 149 hours of continuous power-on time, reissued in July 2019.
Entry into service
In June 2011, the A350-900 was scheduled to enter service in the first half of 2014, with the -800 to enter service in mid-2016, and the -1000 in 2017. In July 2012, Airbus delayed the -900's introduction by three months to the second half of 2014. The delivery to launch customer Qatar Airways took place on 22 December 2014. The first commercial flight was made on 15 January 2015 between Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor, it is home to m ...
and Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
.
The first A350-1000 was assembled in 2016 and had its first flight on 24 November 2016. The aircraft was then delivered on 20 February 2018 to Qatar Airways, which had also been the launch operator of the -900. and entered the commercial service with a flight from Doha to London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
on 24 February 2018.
Shorter A350-800
The -long A350-800 was designed to seat 276 passengers in a typical three-class configuration with a range of with an MTOW of .
In January 2010, Airbus opted to develop the -800 as a shrink of the baseline -900 to simplify development and increase its payload by or its range by , but this led to a fuel burn penalty of "a couple of percent", according to John Leahy. The previously planned optimisation to the structure and landing gear was not beneficial enough against better commonality
In aviation, fleet commonality is the economic and logistic benefits of operating a standardized fleet of aircraft that share common parts, training requirements, or other characteristics.
Different types of commonality
Commonality policies ...
and maximum takeoff weight increase by 11t from 248t. The −800's fuselage is 10 frames shorter (six forward and four aft of wing) than the −900 aircraft. It was designed to supplement the Airbus A330-200 long-range twin. Airbus planned to decrease structural weight in the -800 as development continued, which should have been around airframe 20.
While its backlog reached 182 in mid-2008, it diminished since 2010 as customers switched to the larger -900. After launching the Airbus A330neo
The Airbus A330neo ("neo" for " New Engine Option") is a wide-body airliner developed by Airbus from the Airbus A330 (now A330''ceo'' – "Current Engine Option"). A new version with modern engines comparable with those developed for the Boeing ...
at the 2014 Farnborough Airshow, Airbus dropped the A350-800, with its CEO Fabrice Brégier
Fabrice Brégier (born 16 July 1961) is a French business executive. He was appointed president and chief operating officer of Airbus on 1 January 2017. He is on the executive committee of Airbus, which operates Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Air ...
saying "I believe all of our customers will either convert to the A350-900 or the A330neo". He later confirmed at a September 2014 press conference that development of the A350-800 had been "cancelled." There were 16 orders left for the -800 since Yemenia
Yemenia ( ar, اليمنية) is the flag carrier airline of Yemen, based in Sanaa. It operates scheduled domestic and international passenger flights to destinations in Africa and the Middle East out of its hubs at Aden International Airport, ...
switched to the -900 and Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines ( haw, Hui Mokulele o Hawaiʻi ) is the largest operator of commercial flights to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the United States, and is based at Honolulu, Hawaii. The airl ...
moved to the A330neo in December 2014: eight for Aeroflot
PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...
and eight for Asiana Airlines
Asiana Airlines Inc. ( ) is a South Korean airline headquartered in Seoul.[Home]
." Asiana Airlines. Retrieved 13 September 2 ...
, both also having orders for the -900. In January 2017, Aeroflot and Airbus announced the cancellation of its -800 order, leaving Asiana Airlines as the only customer for the variant. After the negotiation between Airbus and Asiana Airlines, Asiana converted orders of eight A350-800s and one A350-1000 to nine A350-900s.
Longer A350-1000
In 2011, Airbus redesigned the A350-1000 with higher weights and a more powerful engine variant to provide more range for trans-Pacific operations. This boosted its appeal to Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines, who were committed to purchase 20 Boeing 777-9s, and to United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. , which was considering Boeing 777-300ERs to replace its 747-400
The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747.
The "Advanced Series 300" was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, targeting ...
s.[ Emirates was disappointed with the changes and cancelled its order for 50 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s, instead of changing the whole order to the larger variant.]
Assembly of the first fuselage major components started in September 2015. In February 2016, final assembly started at the A350 Final Assembly Line in Toulouse. Three flight test aircraft were planned, with entry into service scheduled for mid-2017. The first aircraft completed its body join on 15 April 2016. Its maiden flight took place on 24 November 2016.
The A350-1000 flight test programme planned for 1,600 flight hours; 600 hours on the first aircraft, MSN59, for the flight envelope
In aerodynamics, the flight envelope, service envelope, or performance envelope of an aircraft or spacecraft refers to the capabilities of a design in terms of airspeed and load factor or atmospheric density, often simplified to altitude. The ...
, systems and powerplant checks; 500 hours on MSN71 for cold and warm campaigns, landing gear checks and high-altitude tests; and 500 hours on MSN65 for route proving and ETOPS assessment, with an interior layout for cabin development and certification. In cruise at and 35,000 ft, its fuel flow at is per hour within a , 11 1/2 hours early long test flight. Flight tests allowed raising the MTOW
The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...
from , the increase giving more range. Airbus then completed functional and reliability testing.
Type Certification was awarded by EASA on 21 November 2017,[ along FAA certification. The first serial unit was on the final ]assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process (often called a ''progressive assembly'') in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in se ...
in early December.[ After its maiden flight on 7 December 2017, delivery to launch customer Qatar Airways slipped to early 2018. The delay was due to issues with the business class seat installation. It was delivered on 20 February 2018] and entered commercial service on Qatar Airways' Doha to London Heathrow route on 24 February 2018.
Possible further stretch
Airbus has explored the possibility of a further stretch offering 45 more seats. A potential 4 m stretch would remain within the exit limit of four door pairs, and a modest MTOW increase from 308 t to 319 t would need only 3% more thrust, within the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 capabilities, and would allow a range to compete with the 777-9's capabilities.
This variant was to be a replacement for the 747-400, tentatively called the A350-8000, -2000[ or -1100.][ Within the June 2016 Airbus Innovation Days, chief commercial officer John Leahy was concerned about the size of a 400-seat market besides the ]Boeing 747-8
The Boeing 747-8 is a wide-body airliner formerly developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and the largest variant of the 747.
After introducing the 747-400, Boeing considered larger 747 versions as alternatives to the proposed double-deck Ai ...
and the 777-9 and chief executive Fabrice Brégier
Fabrice Brégier (born 16 July 1961) is a French business executive. He was appointed president and chief operating officer of Airbus on 1 January 2017. He is on the executive committee of Airbus, which operates Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Air ...
feared such an aircraft could cannibalise demand for the -1000.
The potential aeroplane was competing against a hypothetical 777-10X for Singapore Airlines. At the 2017 Paris Air Show, the concept was shelved for lacking market appeal and in January 2018 Fabrice Brégier
Fabrice Brégier (born 16 July 1961) is a French business executive. He was appointed president and chief operating officer of Airbus on 1 January 2017. He is on the executive committee of Airbus, which operates Airbus Commercial Aircraft, Air ...
focused on enhancing the A350-900/1000 to capture potential before 2022/2023, when it will be possible to stretch the A350 with a new engine generation.
Updates and improvements
In October 2017, Airbus was testing extended sharklets, which could offer extra range and reduce fuel burn by 1.4–1.6%. The wing twist is being changed for the wider, optimised spanload pressure distribution, and will be used for the Singapore Airlines A350-900ULR in 2018 before spreading to other variants.
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...
was the first to receive the upgraded -900 (26 June 2018), with a MTOW
The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...
version for an range with 325 passengers in three classes.
As of February 2018, 142 -900s had been delivered, with a dispatch reliability of 99.3%.[
By April 2019, Airbus was testing a hybrid ]laminar flow
In fluid dynamics, laminar flow is characterized by fluid particles following smooth paths in layers, with each layer moving smoothly past the adjacent layers with little or no mixing. At low velocities, the fluid tends to flow without lateral mi ...
control (HLFC) on the leading edge of an A350 prototype vertical stabilizer, with passive suction similar to the boundary layer control
Boundary layer control refers to methods of controlling the behaviour of fluid flow boundary layers.
It may be desirable to reduce flow separation on fast vehicles to reduce the size of the wake (streamlining), which may reduce drag. Boundary l ...
on the Boeing 787-9
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
tail, but unlike the natural laminar flow BLADE
A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Histor ...
, within the same EU Clean Sky program.
At the November 2019 Dubai Air Show, Emirates
Emirates may refer to:
* United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country
* Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir
** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf
** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates
* The Emirat ...
finalised an order for fifty -900s for $16 Billion at list prices, to be delivered from 2023 to 2028.
The order replaced the February agreement for thirty A350s and forty A330Neos, compensating the cancellation for thirty-nine A380s, causing the end of the double-decker production.
By the end of November 2019, 33 operators had received 331 aircraft from 959 orders, and 2.6 million hours have been flown. Airbus' 2019 earnings report indicated the A350 programme had broken even in 2019.
In late 2022 Airbus announced several improvements to the A350 program, including increased interior space, reduced empty weight, and faster gear retraction. The interior changes included reforming sidewalls, moving cockpit wall forward, and moving aft pressure bulkead one frame further aft. The sidewall changes will allow ten-abreast seating if seventeen-inch seats are used.
New Engine Option
By November 2018, Airbus was hiring in Toulouse and Madrid to develop a re-engine
The aircraft design process is a loosely defined method used to balance many competing and demanding requirements to produce an aircraft that is strong, lightweight, economical and can carry an adequate payload while being sufficiently reliable to ...
d A350neo. Although its launch is not guaranteed, it would be delivered in the mid-2020s, after the A321XLR
The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus.
The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then ren ...
and a stretched A320neo
The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus.
The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then ren ...
"plus", potentially competing with the Boeing New Midsize Airplane
The New Midsize Airplane (NMA), or New Midsize Aircraft, (culturally referred to as the Boeing 797) is a concept airliner proposed by Boeing to fill the middle of the market segment.
In 2015, Boeing determined the market was large enough to lau ...
. Service entry would be determined by ultra-high bypass ratio
The bypass ratio (BPR) of a turbofan engine is the ratio between the mass flow rate of the bypass stream to the mass flow rate entering the core. A 10:1 bypass ratio, for example, means that 10 kg of air passes through the bypass duct for ev ...
engine developments pursued by Pratt & Whitney, testing its Geared Turbofan upgrade; Safran Aircraft Engines
Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...
, ground testing a demonstrator from 2021; and Rolls-Royce, targeting a 2025 Ultrafan service entry. The production target is a monthly rate of 20 A350neos, up from 10.
In November 2019, General Electric was offering an advanced GEnx-1 variant with a bleed air
Bleed air is compressed air taken from the compressor stage of a gas turbine upstream of its fuel-burning sections. Automatic air supply and cabin pressure controller (ASCPCs) valves bleed air from high or low stage engine compressor sections. Lo ...
system and improvements from the GE9X
The General Electric GE9X is a high-bypass turbofan developed by GE Aviation exclusively for the Boeing 777X. It first ran on the ground in April 2016 and first flew on March 13, 2018; it powered the 777-9's maiden flight in early 2020. It rec ...
, developed for the delayed Boeing 777X, to power a proposed A350neo from the mid-2020s.
Design
Airbus expected 10% lower airframe maintenance compared with the original A350 design and 14% lower empty seat weight than the Boeing 777. Design freeze for the A350-900 was achieved in December 2008.
The airframe
The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system.
Airframe design is a field of aerospa ...
is made out of 53% composites: CFRP for the empennage (vertical and horizontal tailplanes), the wing (centre and outer box; including covers, stringers, and spars), and fuselage (keel beam, rear fuselage, skin, and frame); 19% aluminium and aluminium–lithium alloy
Aluminium–lithium alloys (Al–Li alloys) are a set of alloys of aluminium and lithium, often also including copper and zirconium. Since lithium is the least dense elemental metal, these alloys are significantly less dense than aluminium. Commer ...
for ribs, floor beams, and gear bays; 14% titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion i ...
for landing gears, pylons, and attachments; 6% steel; and 8% miscellaneous. The A350's competitor, the Boeing 787, is 50% composites, 20% aluminium, 15% titanium, 10% steel, and 5% other.
Fuselage
The A350 features a new composite fuselage with a constant width from door 1 to door 4, unlike previous Airbus aircraft, to provide maximum usable volume. The double-lobe (ovoid
An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas ( projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either o ...
) fuselage cross-section
Cross section may refer to:
* Cross section (geometry)
** Cross-sectional views in architecture & engineering 3D
*Cross section (geology)
* Cross section (electronics)
* Radar cross section, measure of detectability
* Cross section (physics)
**Abs ...
has a maximum outer diameter of , compared to for the A330/A340. The cabin's internal width is at armrest level compared to in the Boeing 787["Airbus unveils mock up XWB cabin"](_blank)
''Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's olde ...
'' September 2007 and in the Boeing 777. It allows for an eight-abreast 2–4–2 arrangement in a premium economy
Premium economy class, also known as elite economy class or economy plus class, is a travel class offered on some airlines. It is usually positioned between standard economy class and business class in terms of price, comfort, and available a ...
layout, with the seats being wide between wide arm rests. Airbus states that the seat will be wider than a 787 seat in the equivalent configuration.
In the nine-abreast, 3–3–3 standard economy layout, the A350 seat will be wide, wider than a seat in the equivalent layout in the 787, and wider than a seat in the equivalent A330 layout. The current 777 and future derivatives have greater seat width than the A350 in a nine-abreast configuration. The 10-abreast seating on the A350 is similar to a 9-abreast configuration on the A330, with a seat width of . Overall, the A350 gives passengers more headroom, larger overhead storage space, and wider panoramic windows than current Airbus models.
The A350 nose section has a configuration derived from the A380 with a forward-mounted nosegear bay and a six-panel flightdeck windscreen. This differs substantially from the four-window arrangement in the original design. The new nose, made of aluminium, improves aerodynamics and enables overhead crew rest areas to be installed further forward and eliminate any encroachment in the passenger cabin. The new windscreen has been revised to improve vision by reducing the width of the centre post. The upper shell radius of the nose section has been increased.
Wing
The A350 features new composite wings with a wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...
that is common to the proposed variants. Its wingspan stays within the same ICAO Aerodrome Reference Code E 65m limit as the A330/A340 and the Boeing 777. The A350's wing has a 31.9° sweep angle
A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction.
Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigat ...
for a Mach 0.85 cruise speed and has a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.89.
The -900 wing covers a area.[ This is between the wing of the current Boeing 777-200LR/300ER and the wing of the in-development Boeing 777X.] However, Boeing and Airbus do not use the same measurement. The A350-1000 wing is () larger through a () extension to the inboard sections of the fixed trailing edge.[
A new trailing-edge ]high-lift device
In aircraft design and aerospace engineering, a high-lift device is a component or mechanism on an aircraft's wing that increases the amount of lift produced by the wing. The device may be a fixed component, or a movable mechanism which is deplo ...
has been adopted with an advanced dropped-hinge flap
Flap may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film
* Flap, a boss character in the arcade game ''Gaiapolis''
* Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland''
Biology and he ...
similar to that of the A380, which permits the gap between the trailing edge and the flap to be closed with the spoiler
Spoiler is a security vulnerability on modern computer central processing units that use speculative execution. It exploits side-effects of speculative execution to improve the efficiency of Rowhammer and other related memory and cache attacks. ...
. It is a limited morphing wing with adaptive features for continuously optimising the wing loading to reduce fuel burn: variable camber
Camber may refer to a variety of curvatures and angles:
* Camber angle, the angle made by the wheels of a vehicle
* Camber beam, an upward curvature of a joist to compensate for load deflection due in buildings
* Camber thrust in bike technology
* ...
for longitudinal load control where inboard & outboard flaps deflect together and differential flaps setting for lateral load control where inboard & outboard flaps deflect differentially.
The manufacturer has extensively used computational fluid dynamics and also carried out more than 4,000 hours of low- and high-speed windtunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
testing to refine the aerodynamic design. The final configuration of wing and winglet was achieved for the "Maturity Gate 5" on 17 December 2008. The wingtip device
Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag (physics), drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to redu ...
curves upwards over the final . The wings are produced in the new £400 million (US$M), North Factory at Airbus Broughton
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
, employing 650 workers, in a specialist facility constructed with £29M of support from the Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...
.
Undercarriage
Airbus adopted a new philosophy for the attachment of the A350's main undercarriage as part of the switch to a composite wing structure. Each main undercarriage leg is attached to the rear wing spar forward and to a gear beam aft, which itself is attached to the wing and the fuselage. To help reduce the loads further into the wing, a double side-stay configuration has been adopted. This solution resembles the design of the Vickers VC10
The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...
.
Airbus devised a three-pronged main undercarriage design philosophy encompassing both four- and six-wheel bogies
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
to stay within pavement loading limits. The A350-900 has four-wheel bogies in a long bay. The higher weight variant, the A350-1000 uses a six-wheel bogie, with a undercarriage bay. French-based Messier-Dowty provides the main undercarriage for the -900 variant, with titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion i ...
forgings from Kobelco, and UTC Aerospace Systems
UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) was one of the world’s largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The company was formed in August 2012 when parent United Technologies Corporatio ...
supplies the −1000 variant. The nose gear is supplied by Liebherr Aerospace
Liebherr-Aerospace is the aerospace equipment manufacturing division of Liebherr. The company is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM); its low visibility in the minds of end consumers can be attributed to the OEM nature of all its operatio ...
.
File:Airbus A350-941 F-WWCF MSN002 main landing gear ILA Berlin 2016 06 (cropped).jpg, The A350-900 has a four-wheel main gear for a MTOW.
File:Airbus A350-1000 landing gear.jpg, The A350-1000 has a six-wheel main landing gear to support a MTOW.
Systems
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
supplies its HGT1700 auxiliary power unit
An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft and naval ships as well as some large land vehicles. Aircraft APUs generally produce 115& ...
with 10% greater power density
Power density is the amount of power (time rate of energy transfer) per unit volume.
In energy transformers including batteries, fuel cells, motors, power supply
A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to a ...
than the TPE331
The Honeywell TPE331 (military designation: T76) is a turboprop engine. It was originally designed in the 1950s by Garrett AiResearch, and produced since 1999 by Honeywell Aerospace. The engine's power output ranges from .
Design and develop ...
from which it is developed, and the air management system: the bleed air, environmental control, cabin pressure control and supplemental cooling systems. Airbus says that the new design provides a better cabin atmosphere with 20% humidity, a typical cabin altitude
Cabin pressurization is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into the cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for passengers and crew flying at high altitudes. For aircraft, this air is u ...
at or below and an airflow management system that adapts cabin airflow to passenger load with draught-free air circulation.
The ram air turbine, capable of generating 100 kilovolt-ampere
A volt-ampere ( SI symbol: V⋅A or V A, simplified as VA) is the unit for the apparent power in an electrical circuit. The apparent power equals the product of root mean square voltage (in volts) and root mean square current (in ampere ...
, is supplied by Hamilton Sundstrand
Hamilton Sundstrand was an American globally active corporation that manufactured and supported aerospace and industrial products for worldwide markets. A subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, it was headquartered in Windsor Locks, Con ...
and located in the lower surface of the fuselage. In light of the 787 Dreamliner battery problems, in February 2013 Airbus decided to revert from lithium-ion
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also ...
to the proven nickel-cadmium technology although the flight test programme will continue with the lithium-ion battery systems. In late 2015, A350 XWB msn. 24 was delivered with lighter Saft Li-ion batteries and in June 2017, fifty A350s were flying with them and benefiting from a two-year maintenance
Maintenance may refer to:
Biological science
* Maintenance of an organism
* Maintenance respiration
Non-technical maintenance
* Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English
* Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doct ...
schedule instead of NiCd's 4–6 months.
Parker Hannifin
Parker Hannifin Corporation, originally Parker Appliance Company, usually referred to as just Parker, is an American corporation specializing in motion and control technologies. Its corporate headquarters are in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, in Greate ...
supplies the complete fuel package: inerting system, fuel measurement and management systems, mechanical equipment and fuel pumps. The fuel tank inerting system features air-separation modules to generate nitrogen-enriched air to reduce the flammability of fuel vapour in the tanks. Parker also provides hydraulic power generation and distribution system: reservoirs, manifolds, accumulators, thermal control, isolation, software and new engine- and electric motor-driven pump designs. Parker estimates the contracts will generate more than US$2 billion in revenues over the life of the programme.
Cockpit and avionics
The revised design of the A350 XWB's glass cockpit
A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous ...
dropped the A380-sized display and adopted liquid-crystal display
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but ...
screens. The new six-screen configuration includes two central displays mounted one above the other (the lower one above the thrust lever
Thrust levers or throttle levers are found in the cockpit of aircraft, and are used by the pilot, copilot, or autopilot to control the thrust output of the aircraft's engines, by controlling the fuel flow to those engines.
In multi-engine air ...
s) and a single (for each pilot) primary flight/navigation display, with an adjacent on-board information system screen. Airbus says the cockpit design allows for future advances in navigation technology to be placed on the displays plus gives flexibility and capacity to upload new software and to combine data from multiple sources and sensors for flight management and aircraft systems control. A head-up display
A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...
is also present in the cockpit.
Avionics
Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fit ...
are a further development of the integrated modular avionics
Integrated modular avionics (IMA) are real-time computer network airborne systems. This network consists of a number of computing modules capable of supporting numerous applications of differing criticality levels.
In opposition to traditional ...
(IMA) concept found on the A380. The A350's IMA will manage up to 40 functions (versus 23 functions for the A380) such as undercarriage, fuel, pneumatics, cabin environmental systems, and fire detection. Airbus stated that the benefits includes reduced maintenance and lower weight because as the IMA replaces multiple processors and LRUs with around 50% fewer standard computer modules known as line-replaceable modules. The IMA runs on a 100 Mbit/s
In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...
network based on the AFDX
Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX), also ARINC 664, is a data network, patented by international aircraft manufacturer Airbus, for safety-critical applications that utilizes dedicated bandwidth while providing deterministic quality o ...
standard, as employed in the A380, in place of the architecture used on the A330/A340.
Propulsion
In 2005, GE was the launch engine of the original A350, aiming for 2010 deliveries, while Rolls-Royce offered its Trent 1700.
For the updated A350 XWB, GE offered a GEnx-3A87 for the A350-800/900, but not a higher thrust version needed for the A350-1000, which competes with the longer range 777 powered exclusively with the GE90
The General Electric GE90 is a family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines built by GE Aviation for the Boeing 777, with thrust ratings from . It entered service with British Airways in November 1995. It is one of three options for the 777 ...
-115B.
In December 2006, Rolls-Royce was selected for the A350 XWB launch engine.[
The ]Rolls-Royce Trent XWB
The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is a high bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc.
In July 2006, the Trent XWB was selected to power exclusively the Airbus A350.
The first engine was run on 14 June 2010,
it first flew on an A380 testbed on 18 ...
features a fan disk
A fan disk is the central hub of a fan in a turbofan engine. Fan blades are attached to the fan disk, which is rotated by a shaft driven by a gas turbine. In modern passenger aircraft, most of the propulsive thrust comes from fans, which ...
diameter and the design is based on the advanced developments of the Airbus A380 Trent 900
The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc to power the Airbus A380, competing with the Engine Alliance GP7000.
Initially proposed for the Boeing 747-500/600X in July 1996,
this first application was late ...
and the Boeing 787 Trent 1000. It has four thrust levels to power the A350 variants: a and for the regional variants of the A350-900 while the baseline A350-900 has the standard and a for the A350-1000. The higher-thrust version will have some modifications to the fan module—it will be the same diameter but will run slightly faster and have a new fan blade design—and run at increased temperatures allowed by new materials technologies from Rolls-Royce's research.
The Trent XWB may also benefit from the next-generation reduced acoustic mode scattering engine duct system (RAMSES), an acoustic quieting Acoustic quieting is the process of making machinery quieter by damping vibrations to prevent them from reaching the observer. Machinery vibrates, causing sound waves in air, hydroacoustic waves in water, and mechanical stresses in solid matter. ...
engine nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attache ...
intake, and a carry-on design of the Airbus's "zero splice" intake liner developed for the A380. A "hot and high
In aviation, hot and high is a condition of low air density due to high ambient temperature and high airport elevation. Air density decreases with increasing temperature and altitude. The lower air density reduces the power output from the airc ...
" rating option for Middle Eastern customers Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...
keep its thrust available at higher temperatures and altitudes.
Airbus aimed to certify the A350 with 350-minute ETOPS capability on entry into service. That could reach 420 min later, although Airbus achieved a 370–minute ETOPS rating on 15 October 2014 which covers 99.7% of the Earth's surface. Engine thrust-reversers and nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attache ...
s are supplied by US-based UTC Aerospace Systems
UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) was one of the world’s largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The company was formed in August 2012 when parent United Technologies Corporatio ...
.
Operational history
One year after introduction, the A350 fleet had accumulated 3,000 flight cycles and around 16,000 block hours. Average daily usage by first customers was 11.4 hours with flights averaging 5.2 hours, which are under the aircraft's capabilities and reflect both short flights within the schedules of Qatar Airways and Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines ( vi, Hãng Hàng không Quốc gia Việt Nam, lit=Vietnam National Airlines) is the flag carrier of Vietnam. The airline was founded in 1956 and later established as a state-owned enterprise in April 1989. Vietnam Airline ...
, as well as flight-crew proficiency training that is typical of early use and is accomplished on short-haul flights. Finnair
Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...
was operating the A350 at very high rates: 15 flight hours per day for Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
, 18 hours for Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
, and more than 20 hours for Bangkok.[ This may have accelerated the retirement of the Airbus A340.][
In service, problems occurred in three areas. The onboard maintenance, repair, and operations, maintenance, repair, overhaul network needed software improvements. Airbus issued Technical Service Bulletin, service bulletins regarding onboard equipment and removed galley inserts (coffee makers, toaster ovens) because of leaks. Airbus had to address spurious overheating warnings in the bleed air system by retrofitting an original connector with a gold-plated connector. Airbus targeted a 98.5% dependability by the end of 2016 and to match the mature A330 reliability by early 2019.]
By the end of May 2016, the A350 fleet had flown 55,200 hours over 9,400 cycles at a 97.8% operational reliability on three months. The longest operated sector was Qatar Airways' Adelaide–Doha at 13.8 hours for . 45% of flights were under , 16% over , and 39% in between. The average flight was 6.8 hours, with the longest average being 9.6 hours by TAM Airlines and the shortest being 2.1 hours by Cathay Pacific's. It is to Aircraft seat configuration, seat from 253 seats for Singapore Airlines to 348 seats for TAM Airlines, with a 30 to 46 seat business class and a 211 to 318 seat economy class, often including a premium economy. A total of 49 A350s were delivered to customers in 2016. It was also planned that the monthly rate would grow to 10 by the end of 2018, which was eventually achieved in 2019 when Airbus delivered 112 aircraft over a period of 11 months.
In January 2017, two years after introduction, 62 aircraft were in service with 10 airlines. They had accumulated 25,000 flights over 154,000 hours with an average daily utilisation of 12.5 hours, and transported six million passengers with a 98.7% operational reliability. Zodiac Aerospace encountered production difficulties with business class seats in their Texas and California factories. After a year, Cathay Pacific experienced cosmetic quality issues and upgraded or replaced the seats for the earliest cabins.
In 2017, average test flights before delivery decreased to 4.1 from 12 in 2014, with an average delay down to 25 days from 68. Its reliability was 97.2% in 2015, 98.3% in 2016, and 98.8% in June 2017, just behind its 99% target for 2017.
In June 2017 after 30 months in commercial operation, 80 A350s were in service with 12 operators, the largest being Qatar Airways with 17 and 13 each at Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines (SIA).[ The fleet average block time (time between pushback and destination gate arrival) was 7.2 hours with 53% below , 16% over , and 31% in between. LATAM Airlines had the longest average sector at 10.7 hours, and Asiana Airlines, Asiana had the shortest at 3.8 hours.][ Singapore Airlines operated the longest leg, Singapore to San Francisco , and the shortest leg, Singapore to Kuala Lumpur .][ Seating varied from 253 for Singapore Airlines to 389 for Air Caraïbes, with most between 280 and 320.]
, the global A350 fleet had 3.36 years average aircraft age, had completed more than 870,000 flights on more than 910 routes, and had carried more than 225 million passengers since its entry into service; the fleet had 99.3 percent operational reliability in the last 3 months.
On 30 September 2022, the 500th A350, an A350-900, was delivered to Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese language, Aragonese and Occitan language, Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a pe ...
, a major European customer with 20 A350s on order and 14 in service. Beyond a symbol, the delivery marked an important milestone for Airbus and its growing versatile family, including the A350-900, the A350-1000 and the newest freighter variant, the A350F. The milestone also marked the introduction of the new ''Production Standard 2022'' which brings additional performance and cabin improvements for both A350-900 and A350-1000.
Qatar Airways fuselage degradation dispute
In August 2021, a dispute arose between Airbus and Qatar Airways, the largest customer and second-largest operator of the A350. When several A350s were sent in for repainting to promote the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, it was discovered that their fuselages had suffered an unusual amount of degradation despite only 3–6 years of service. The airplanes were grounded until the root cause could be determined and the airline would not accept future deliveries until the problem is resolved.
In contrast, Singapore Airlines, the largest A350 operator, had not detected such problems with its fleet and continued to operate it.
The European regulator, EASA, would not take any actions over the findings since it had not indicated any paint degradation that could affect the structure of the aircraft nor introduces "other risks". In November 2021, an investigation by Reuters found that Finnair
Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...
, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Lufthansa and Air France had also raised concerns with Airbus about the paint and complained of paint damage as early as 2016. On 20 December 2021, Airbus received a formal legal claim in the English courts filed by Qatar Airways, concerning the degradation of surface and paint on certain of the airline's A350 aircraft. Leading up to the court hearing, Qatar Airways alleged that the surface flaws cause the risk of fuel tank ignition due to the degradation in lightning protection over the wings where the fuel tanks are located. A trial is scheduled for summer 2023.
Variants
The three main variants of the A350 were launched in 2006, with entry into service planned for 2013. At the 2011 Paris Air Show, Airbus postponed the entry into service of the A350-1000 by two years to mid-2017. In July 2012, the A350's entry into service was delayed to the second half of 2014, before the -900 began service on 15 January 2015.[ In October 2012, the -800 was due to enter service in mid-2016,] but its development was cancelled in September 2014.[ The A350 is also offered as the ACJ350 corporate jet by Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ), offering a range for 25 passengers for the -900 derivative.][
]
A350-900
The A350-900 is the first A350 model; it has a MTOW
The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...
of , typically seats 325 passengers, and has a range of . Airbus says that per seat, the Boeing 777-200ER should have a 16% heavier manufacturer's empty weight, a 30% higher block fuel consumption, and 25% higher cash operating costs than the A350-900. The −900 is designed to compete with the Boeing 777 and 787 (777-200ER/Boeing 777#777-200LR, LR, and Boeing 787 Dreamliner#787-10, Boeing 787-10), while replacing the Airbus Airbus A340#A340-300, A340-300 and Airbus A340#A340-500, A340-500.
A proposed A350−900R extended-range variant was to feature the higher engine thrust, strengthened structure, and landing gear of the MTOW -1000 to give a further range.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) will replace its A340-300 with an A350-900HGW ("high-gross weight") variant available from 2017. It will enable non-stop Manila-New York City flights without payload limitations in either direction, a flight. The PAL version will have a MTOW, and from 2020, the -900 will be proposed with the ULR's MTOW, up from the for the original weight variant and the certified variants, with the large fuel capacity. This will enable an range with 325 seats in a three-class layout.
In early November 2017, Emirates committed to purchase 40 Boeing 787-10 aircraft before Airbus presented an updated A350-900 layout with the rear pressure bulkhead pushed back by . After Emirates' Tim Clark (airline executive), Tim Clark was shown a ten-abreast economy cabin and galley changes, he said the -900 is "more marketable" as a result.
The average lease rates of the first A350-900s produced in 2014 were $1.1 million per month, not including maintenance reserves amounting to $18 million after 10–12 years, and falling to $940,000 per month in 2018 while a new A350-900 is leased for $1.2 million per month and its interior can cost $12 million, 10% of the aircraft.
By 2018, a 2014 build was valued $108M falling to $74.5M by 2022 while a new build was valued for $148M, a 6+12year check cost $3M and an engine overhaul $4–6.5M.
A350-900ULR
The MTOW of the ultra-long range -900ULR has been increased to and its fuel capacity increased from within existing fuel tanks, enabling up to 19-hour flights with a range,[ the longest range of any airliner in service as of 2022.][ The MTOW is increased by from the previously certified variant.] Because of the A350-900's fuel consumption of per hour, it needs an additional of fuel to fly 19 hours instead of the standard 15 hours: the increased MTOW and lower payloads will enable the larger fuel capacity. Non-stop flights could last more than 20 hours. The first −900ULR was rolled out without its engines in February 2018 for ground testing. Flight-tests after engine installation checked the larger fuel capacity and measured the performance improvements from the extended winglets. It made its first flight on 23 April 2018.
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...
, the launch customer and currently the only operator, used its seven -900ULR aircraft on non-stop flights between Singapore and New York City and cities on the U.S. west coast.[ Singapore Airlines' seating is to range from 170 in largely business class seating up to over 250 in mixed seating. The planes can be reconfigured.] They will have two seating classes. The airline received its first -900ULR on 23 September 2018, with 67 business class seats and 94 premium economy seats.
On 12 October 2018, it landed the world's longest flight at Newark Liberty International Airport from Singapore Changi after 17 hours and 52 minutes, covering for a Great-circle distance, orthodromic distance. It burned of fuel to cover the route in 17 h 22 min: an average of .
At the 2015 Dubai Air Show, John Leahy noted the demand of the Middle Eastern Gulf airlines for this variant. In February 2018, Qatar Airways stated its preference for the larger -1000, having no need for the extra range of the -900ULR. Compared to the standard -900, the -900ULR additional value is likely around $2 million.
ACJ350
Airbus Corporate Jet version of the A350, the ACJ350, is derived from the A350-900ULR. As a result of the increased fuel capacity from the -900ULR, the ACJ350 has a maximum range of . The German Air Force is to be the first to receive the ACJ350 having ordered 3 aircraft which will replace its 2 A340-300.
A350 Regional
After the Boeing 787-10 launch at the 2013 Paris Air Show, Airbus discussed with airlines a possible A350-900 Regional with a reduced MTOW of . Engine thrust would have been reduced to from the standard and the variant would have been optimised for routes up to with seating for up to 360 passengers in a single-class layout. The A350 Regional was expected to be ordered by Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines. Since 2013, there has been no further announcement about this variant.
Singapore Airlines selected an A350-900 version for medium-haul use, and Japan Airlines took delivery of a 369-seat A350-900 with a MTOW for its domestic flight network. The A350 Type Certificate Data Sheet includes MTOWs of 217, 235, 240, 250, 255, 260, 268, 272, 275, 277, 278 and 280 t.[
]
A350-1000
The A350-1000 is the largest variant of the A350 family at just under in length. It seats 350-410 passengers in a typical three-class layout with a range of . With a 9-abreast configuration, it is designed to replace the Airbus A340#A340-600, A340-600 and compete with the Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 777X#777-9, 777-9. Airbus estimates a 366-seat -1000 should have a lighter operating empty weight than a 398-seat 777-9, a 15% lower trip cost, a 7% lower seat cost, and a greater range. Compared to a Boeing 777-300ER with 360 seats, Airbus claims a 25% Fuel economy in aircraft, fuel burn per seat advantage for an A350-1000 with 369 seats. The extension seats 40 more passengers with 40% more premium area.[
The -1000 can match the 40 more seats of the 777-9 by going 10-abreast but with diminished comfort.
The A350-1000 has an 11-frame stretch over the −900 and a slightly larger wing than the −800/900 models with trailing-edge extension increasing its area by 4%. This will extend the high-lift devices and the ailerons, making the chord bigger by around , optimising flap lift performance as well as cruise performance.] The main landing gear is a 6-wheel bogie instead of a 4-wheel bogie, put in a one frame longer bay. The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine's thrust is augmented to . These and other engineering upgrades are necessary so that the −1000 model maintains range.
It features an automatic emergency Descent (aeronautics), descent function to around and notifies air traffic control if the crew fails to respond to an alert, indicating possible incapacitation from depressurisation. The avionics software adaptation is activated by a push and pull button to avoid mistakes and could be retrofitted in the smaller -900. All performance targets have been met or exceeded, and it remains within its weight specification, unlike early −900s.
Its basic MTOW was increased to before offering a possible version. Its 316 t MTOW appeared on 29 May 2018 update of its type certificate data sheet.[ This raised its range from .] A further MTOW increase by , to a total of is under study to be available from 2020 and could be a response to Qantas' Kangaroo Route#Non-stop flights, Project Sunrise. Initial speculation suggested that the variant might be marketed as the A350-1000ULR. However, the -1000 is not expected to share the -900ULR's larger fuel tanks and other fuel system modifications, and Airbus has stopped short of describing the largest MTOW variant as a ULR model, despite the range.
In November 2019, maximum accommodation increased to 480 seats from 440 through the installation of new "Type-A+" Emergency exit#Aircraft, exits, with a dual-lane evacuation slide.
On 17 December 2021, French Bee took delivery of the first A350-1000 in this 480-seat configuration, leased by Air Lease Corporation and to be operated by from Paris to Reunion Island, with 40 premium and 440 economy seats.
In December 2019, Qantas tentatively chose the A350-1000 to operate their Project Sunrise routes, before a final decision in March 2020 for up to 12 aircraft.
After a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was confirmed on 2 May 2022, when Qantas placed a formal order for 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft for Project Sunrise flights to start in 2025.
A350F
An A350-900 cargo aircraft, freighter was first mentioned in 2007, offering a similar capacity to the McDonnell Douglas MD-11F, MD-11F with a range of 9,250 km (5,000 nmi), to be developed after the passenger version. In early 2020, Airbus was proposing an A350F before a potential launch. The proposed freighter would be slightly longer than the A350-900 and Airbus would need 50 orders to launch the $2–3 billion programme. It would be long and be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines. Airbus calls the version ''A350F''.
In July 2021, the Airbus board approved the freighter development. It is based on the -1000 version for a payload over 90 tonnes, and entry into service is targeted for 2025.
The A350F would keep the A350-1000 319 t MTOW, shortened but still longer than the Boeing 777F for 10% larger freight volume at compared to for the 777F, similar to the Boeing 747-8F.[
With a maindeck cargo door behind the wing and reinforced main deck aluminum floor beams, its payload is higher than the of the 777F, while its empty weight is lighter than the A350-1000, lighter than the 777F.]
At the November 2021 Dubai Air Show, US lessor Air Lease Corporation became the launch customer with an order for seven to be delivered around 2026, among other Airbus airliners. The launch operator of the A350F will be Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...
, who ordered 7 aircraft at the 2022 Singapore Airshow, and deliveries will start from 2025.
Operators
There were 499 A350 aircraft in service with 39 operators and 52 customers . The five largest operators were Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...
(61), Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netwo ...
(53), Cathay Pacific (44), Delta Air Lines (26) and Lufthansa (21).
Orders and deliveries
Accidents and incidents
The global A350 fleet has zero fatalities and no hull loss accidents .
Specifications
Aircraft model designations
ICAO aircraft type designators
See also
Notes
References
*
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Airbus aircraft
Airbus A350 XWB,
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