First A350 XWB nose section being unloaded from the Beluga aircraft at St Nazaire. Photo by Airbus. Click for larger.

First A350 XWB nose section being unloaded from the Beluga aircraft at St Nazaire. Photo by Airbus. Click for larger.

Now that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been delivered and will soon be entering service, I want to share some love with the Airbus A350 XWB.

The A350 line up currently planned will overall, be larger than the 787, even though there will be some overlap. The smaller A350-800 will compete with the larger 787-9 and 787-10.  The A350 is slated to carry 250 to 400 passengers, where the 787 models will carry about 210-290 passengers.

Cut away of the Airbus A350 XWB from Flightglobal.

Cut away of the Airbus A350 XWB from Flightglobal. Click for larger.

The A350 will be the first airliner manufactured by Airbus using  53% composite materials. We have previously seen the upper wing cover and landing gear, now something a bit more recognizable; the A350 XWB nose section. The A350 nose section comes in three different parts, which is different than the Boeing 787 coming in just one.

At this time, the A350 has 567 orders, where the first aircraft is expected to go to Qatar Airways sometime in later 2013.

 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & FOUNDER - SEATTLE, WA. David has written, consulted, and presented on multiple topics relating to airlines and travel since 2008. He has been quoted and written for a number of news organizations, including BBC, CNN, NBC News, Bloomberg, and others. He is passionate about sharing the complexities, the benefits, and the fun stuff of the airline business. Email me: david@airlinereporter.com

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3 Comments

That cutaway is like 98.6% useless with how low res it is, not necessarily your fault, but that’s pretty weak.

I am impressed you have it down to a tenth of a percent. That cutaway took a lot of work and not a bad res for free 🙂

David

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