See update below
Europe’s largest twin-engined passenger jet, the Airbus A350-1000, took to the skies for the first time on Thursday, seeking to grab the spotlight from Boeing’s popular 777.
The lightweight carbon-fibre Airbus, 7 metres (yards) longer and able to carry 40 more people than A350s already in service, began a three-hour debut flight at just after 0940 GMT, watched by some of the airline bosses who have invested in the $356 million jet.
The 366-seat A350-1000 was designed to break Boeing’s virtual monopoly in the lucrative “mini-jumbo” segment, typically involving large twin-engined jets carrying 350 people.
It is a larger cousin to the new-generation A350-900, which entered service last year. Both are built from similar advanced materials to Boeing’s mid-sized 787 Dreamliner in a race between planemakers for fuel savings and better passenger comfort.
The aircraft involved in Thursday’s Toulouse debut is one of three test planes facing a winter of intensive flight testing before the A350-1000 enters service in the second half of 2017.
Fabrice Bregier, chief executive of Airbus, added he was confident the A350-1000 would be delivered on time next year.
The A350-1000’s first flight came as Airbus said it has delivered four of its predecessors, the A350-900, this month, bringing the total so far this year to 34, and may deliver a further aircraft later on Thursday.
The tally of deliveries is being closely watched as Airbus seeks to reach a target of more than 50 A350 deliveries for 2016, following delays due to shortages of cabin equipment.
Update:
The chief executive of the Airbus commercial jet division said on Thursday he had grown more confident of reaching this year’s target of at least 50 A350-900 deliveries.
“The objective has not changed. I visited the final assembly line last Tuesday and they are still working on 50 this year,” Fabrice Brégier said at the maiden flight of the larger A350-1000.
“I am more confident than I was at the end of June,” he said.
Mr Brégier said Airbus was in no hurry to decide whether to build a larger model, known as A350-2000, to compete with the planned 406-seat Boeing 777X. He added that the 366-seat A350-1000 was in a sweet spot of the twin-engined jet market.
* Reuters
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