Airbus has received certification from European authorities for its new A350-900, the company’s answer to the Boeing 787. The Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was received on September 30th. The certified aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification will follow shortly.
The A350 is a medium to long range twin-jet that can carry between 250 and 350 passengers in a typical international configuration depending upon model. Like the Boeing 787 it is made of carbon-fibre rather than the traditional aluminium. This brings a host of benefits to passengers such as lower cabin altitude and higher humidity to virtually eliminate jet lag. It competes with Boeing’s 787 and 777.
To celebrate the event Airbus launched all five test aircraft into the skies over Toulouse France for some formation flying. See the spectacular video below.
“Receiving the A350-900 Type Certification from EASA is a great achievement for Airbus and for all our partners who have contributed to designing, building and certificating this fantastic, new generation aircraft. The A350-900 is now ready to fly from the nest and be enjoyed by airlines and passengers,” said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO. “The A350 XWB embodies many extra innovative technologies which make all the difference in passenger comfort and airline efficiency.”
“The A350 XWB manufacturing programme has also been innovative and ambitious aiming for a fully mature aircraft at entry into service and this is what we are proud to be delivering to our first A350 XWB customer, Qatar Airways, before the end of the year.”
Mr Mr Brégier added that the fleet of five test aircraft completed the certification campaign, on time, cost and quality. “Accumulating more than 2,600 flight test hours, we created and successfully achieved one of the industry’s most thorough and efficient test programmes ever developed for a jetliner.”
The A350-900 Type Certification comes after successfully finishing an extensive programme of certification trials which has taken the airframe and systems well beyond their design limits to ensure all airworthiness criteria are met.
At the end of May 2014, the A350 XWB had secured 750 orders from 39 customers worldwide.
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