First A350 for Qatar Airways takes maiden flight

The first serial production A350 airframe has made its maiden voyage, featuring the livery of its first client, Qatar Airways.

The A350-900 XWB, which took off from Toulouse, France, on the afternoon of Oct. 15, is expected to be delivered to Qatar Airways between Dec. 8 and Dec. 10, according to a statement from the carrier’s CEO, Akbar Al Baker.

The A350, which earned flight safety certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Sept. 30, also received ETOPS clearance from EASA for 370 minutes, giving it the ability to cover virtually any long-haul route. This certification for “extended-range twin-engine operations” means the aircraft will be approved to fly for more than six hours on one Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine in the event of a single-engine failure.

According to Airbus, the ETOPS-370 approval is the first to be given to a new aircraft before it has officially entered service. Customers will be able to order the A350-900 with a basic 180-minute ETOPS capability or choose alternatives for 300 or 370 minutes.

As the launch customer for the new aircraft, Qatar Airways has 43 other A350-900s on order, plus a contract for 37 A350-1000s. The initial A350-900 is rumored to begin serving the Doha-New York route once it is delivered, but Qatar Airways has not yet confirmed the first scheduled service.

To date, Airbus has orders for 549 of the A350-900 variant out of a total of 750 orders across the A350 family.