Airbus maiden flight on British wings

The A350XWB, equipped with Rolls-Royce engines, is a generation beyond its current competitor, benefitting from a 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn, operating costs and CO2 emissions.

The A350 will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer.

It will carry 250 to 350 passengers in three-class seating, depending on variant.

The plane's maiden test flight was made from Airbus' headquarters in Toulouse and piloted by experienced British test pilot, Peter Chandler. Peter was born in Hastings and grew up in Exmouth before going to university in Southampton.

The wings for all A350 XWB are designed and manufactured at Airbussites in Filton, near Bristol and Broughton in North Wales.

The landing gear is also tested at the state-of-the-art test centre in Filton.

An Airbusspokesman said:

"The A350XWB is a generation beyond its current competitor, benefitting from a 25% reduction in fuel burn, operating costs and CO2 emissions.

"The aircraft also features the latest in materials; with over 50% of the structure made from lightweight composites."

This first flight marks 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.

To date the A350 XWB has already won 613 firm orders from 33 customers worldwide.

Airbus has also announced that there will also be an Early Day Motion, supported by their local site MPs; Mark Tami, Jack Lopresti and Stephen Williams published shortly and any further support of this historic milestone, would be greatly appreciated.