The Airbus A350 is a medium sized wide-body commercial aircraft manufactured by the commercial aviation division of Airbus the leading European company that designs, manufactures, and sells civil and military aircraft and helicopters.
Variants
There are three variants of this model, the A350-800, A350-900 and A350-1000, all designed for long-haul flights. The A350 can carry between 270 and 366 passengers, depending on the version and cabin configuration.
This aircraft was originally conceived as a variant of the Airbus A330, with minor changes that mainly affect its capacity and dimensions: up to 366 seats in the A350-1000 against 300 in the A330-900, and 8 metres longer and almost 4.5 metres more wingspan in the A350 than in the A330.
The A350 prototype made its first flight on 14 June 2013 and entered service in January 2015. By 31 December 2017, Airbus had accumulated orders for 854 aircraft between the three versions.
The immediate competitor of Airbus A350 is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, if you want to know its characteristics, see this
Features
This aircraft combines the latest in aerodynamics, design and advanced technologies to increase fuel efficiency by 25%. More than two-thirds of the aircraft’s structure is made of composite materials, light metals such as titanium, and advanced aluminum alloys. Its fuselage is also reinforced with carbon fiber, which facilitates the maintenance program by being immune to corrosion and more resistant to structural fatigue.
With the A350, Airbus improves its sustainability ratio by achieving remarkable energy efficiency and emission reductions. To this end, it has equipped this aircraft with advanced technology Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, which emit up to 25% less CO2 than previous models in its category.
A characteristic “house brand” of Airbus is that the type ratings allow all the planes to be piloted by the same family with the same flight certification, so airlines save training time and allow greater flexibility when providing their fleets with technical crews. This important feature is repeated in the A350 family.
In the area of passenger comfort, the A350 offers a number of customer benefits, such as wider aisles, increased luggage capacity, cabin colour therapy, panoramic windows, improved air renewal system, etc., all of which provide a pleasant environment for medium and long haul flights.
Distribution
Since its launch, Airbus has received more than 3,000 purchase orders for its various models: the A350-800, the A350-900 and the longer A350-1000.
The largest customer for the A350 is currently Qatar Airways with 76 aircraft, followed by Singapore Airlines with 67 and Cathay Pacific with 46 in 2019. Other airlines that have acquired this model are Iberia, Air France and British Airways, among others.
By 2020 the A350 is expected to join the fleets of Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot, SAS and Kuwait Airways. Starlux Airlines will receive five by 2021 and United Airlines expects to have 45 aircraft by 2022.