Aircraft Machines
As market support was inadequate, in 2006 Airbus switched to a clean-sheet "XWB" (eXtra Wide Body) design, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofan engines. The prototype first flew on 14 June 2013 from Toulouse in France. Type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was received in September 2014 and certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) two months later.
The A350 XWB is the first Airbus mostly made of carbon fibre reinforced polymer. 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 A350 XWB has two variants: The A350-900 typically carries 300 to 350 passengers over a 15,000 kilometres (8,100 nautical miles) range and has a 280-ton (617,300-pound) maximum take-off weight (MTOW); the longer A350-1000 accommodates 350 to 410 passengers, has a maximum range of 16,100 km (8,700 nmi) and a 319 t (703,200 lb) MTOW, and is supported by two 6-wheel main landing gear trucks (the -900 has four).
On 15 January 2015, the initial A350-900 entered service with its launch operator Qatar Airways, followed by the A350-1000 on 24 February 2018 with the same airline. As of December 2019, A350 XWB orders stand at 926 of which 347 have been delivered and 312 are in operation. The largest operator is the airliner's launch customer, Qatar Airways, with 48 A350 XWBs in its fleet. It succeeds the A340 and competes with the Boeing 777, 777X, and 787-10.
The A350 XWB airframe is made out of 53% composites: carbon fibre reinforced plastic for the outer and centre wing box (covers, stringers, spars), fuselage (skin, frame, keel beam, and rear fuselage) and the empennage (horizontal and vertical tailplanes); 19% aluminium and aluminium–lithium alloy for ribs, floor beams, and gear bays; 14% titanium 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. More details
The Airbus A350 XWB is a family of long-range, wide-body airliners developed by Airbus. The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the A330 with composite wings and new engines.
The A350 XWB is the first Airbus mostly made of carbon fibre reinforced polymer. 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 A350 XWB has two variants: The A350-900 typically carries 300 to 350 passengers over a 15,000 kilometres (8,100 nautical miles) range and has a 280-ton (617,300-pound) maximum take-off weight (MTOW); the longer A350-1000 accommodates 350 to 410 passengers, has a maximum range of 16,100 km (8,700 nmi) and a 319 t (703,200 lb) MTOW, and is supported by two 6-wheel main landing gear trucks (the -900 has four).
On 15 January 2015, the initial A350-900 entered service with its launch operator Qatar Airways, followed by the A350-1000 on 24 February 2018 with the same airline. As of December 2019, A350 XWB orders stand at 926 of which 347 have been delivered and 312 are in operation. The largest operator is the airliner's launch customer, Qatar Airways, with 48 A350 XWBs in its fleet. It succeeds the A340 and competes with the Boeing 777, 777X, and 787-10.
Airbus expects 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.
