Airbus A350 To Make Maiden Flight On Friday
The Airbus A350 XWB will make its maiden Friday, June 14, the company has announced.
Spanning a large portion of the long-range widebody market with its three variants, the A350 is also poised to challenge Boeing’s highly successful 777 as well. And by taking a more conservative design approach to reach new heights in fuel efficiency, range, and reliability, Airbus might steer clear of the kind of new-plane growing pains that have plagued the Dreamliner.
Airbus A350 XWB is a family of wide-body, long-range jet airliners that are the first Airbus with wing structures and fuselage made of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer. The XWB stands for “extra wide body,” and it uses 25 percent less fuel and an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to other aircraft in its size category.
The Airbus A350 XWB has already achieved 613 firm orders from 33 customers worldwide, and will enter into service in the second half of 2014.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Bombardier is planning to fly its new CSeries single-aisle airliner by the end of the month.
Bombardier officials said earlier this month they would not make it to Paris with the CSeries but have said it will fly in Montreal before the end of the month. The CSeries is being touted as an efficient alternative to the Boeing 737 and A320, not to mention smallish airliners being developed in Japan, China and Russia. The CSeries will use geared turbofan engines from Pratt and Whitney that are projected to cut fuel costs by up to 20 percent and be noticeably quieter than other jet engines. Bombardier has potential orders for up to 400 aircraft and about 145 are firm.
