Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. NV or EADS (EADSY.PK, EADSF.PK) announced Friday that the Airbus A350-XWB flew for the first time today taking off from Toulouse, France at 10:00 a.m. local time. Equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofans, the A350 XWB first flight is taking place over south western France.
The company said that an international crew of six was on board, comprising two Flight Test Pilots, one Test Flight Engineer and three Flight Test Engineers.
The company said that the first flight marked the beginning of a test campaign totaling around 2,500 flight hours with a fleet of five development aircraft. The rigorous flight testing will lead to the certification of the A350-900 variant by the European EASA and US FAA airworthiness authorities, prior to entry into service in the second half of 2014 with first operator Qatar Airways.
The A350 XWB is Airbus' all-new mid-size long range product line comprising three versions and seating between 270 and 350 passengers in spacious three-class layouts. To date the A350 XWB has already won 613 firm orders from 33 customers worldwide, the company said.
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