Qatar Airways Takes Delivery of Airbus’ First A350-1000

Qatar Airways, the largest Airbus A350 XWB customer, has taken first delivery of Airbus’ largest version of the jetliner, the A350-1000.

The aircraft is the first of 37 A350-1000s ordered by the carrier and is the first ever Airbus aircraft fitted with the new Qsuite seats, offering the first ever double bed in Business class. Qatar Airways is not only the world’s largest A350 XWB family customer with 76 aircraft on order, but also the largest A350-1000 customer.

“Qatar Airways always demands the very best for its customers, so it is right that we are the first airline in the world to fly the Airbus A350-1000,” said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Mr. Akbar Al Baker. “This remarkable state-of-the-art aircraft will become a firm part of Qatar Airways fleet and will keep us ahead of the curve, allowing us to continue to offer our passengers outstanding levels of comfort and service.”

The A350-1000 is Airbus’ latest and largest widebody in the twin-aisle category. With a 7-metre longer fuselage, the A350-1000 space for premium cabin products is 40% larger than its smaller sibling the A350-900. In Qatar Airways configuration the A350-1000 offers 44 additional seats and a range of 8,000nm (14,800 km) at entry into service. The A350-1000 also features a modified wing trailing-edge, new six-wheel main landing gears and more powerful Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines.

Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce President – Civil Aerospace, stated “We are very proud to have worked with Qatar Airways and Airbus to deliver engines for this latest version of the A350 XWB family. This delivery marks another significant day in our partnership with the airline and the manufacturer as the new aircraft is powered by the most powerful engine ever developed for an Airbus aircraft, the Trent XWB-97.” 

As of mid-February 2018, 150 A350-900s had been delivered to 17 operators worldwide.

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