First Airbus A350 XWB Takes to the Skies

The first Airbus A350 XWB, designed as an efficient, large twin-engined commercial aircraft, began its maiden flight at Blagnac in Toulouse, France, Friday morning. Its first flight lasted four hours and five minutes. An international crew of six was on board, comprising two flight test pilots, one test flight engineer and three flight test engineers. 

 

This first flight marks the beginning of a test campaign totaling around 2,500 flight hours with a fleet of five development aircraft. The rigorous flight testing will lead to the certification of the A350-900 variant by the European EASA and US FAA airworthiness authorities, prior to entry into service in the second half of 2014, with first operator Qatar Airways.

 

For its first flight, the A350 XWB – carrying the registration F-WXWB – took off at around 221 tonnes. During the flight, which took the aircraft around southwestern France, the crew explored the aircraft’s flight envelope. The aircraft was accompanied by a chase plane to observe and film the various maneuvers. Its progress was monitored by experts on the ground in real-time via a direct telemetry link. 

 

The A350 XWB is Airbus’ all-new mid-size long range product line comprising three versions and seating between 270 and 350 passengers in spacious three-class layouts. The new family will use 25% less fuel and provide an equivalent reduction in CO₂ emissions. The test aircraft is equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofans. To date, the A350 XWB has already won 613 firm orders from 33 customers worldwide.