Less than one year after delivering the first A350 XWB (-900), the first A350-1000 is taking shape with the assembly start of the first fuselage major components at Airbus plants in Hamburg and Saint-Nazaire.

The forward fuselage section has been delivered by Premium Aerotec to Airbus in Hamburg where it will be equipped before being flown to Saint-Nazaire on board the Beluga. The nose fuselage section has been delivered by Stelia Aerospace to Airbus in Saint-Nazaire for assembly and equipping. The forward and nose fuselage sections will then be joined together in Saint-Nazaire to form the front fuselage which will then be flown by Beluga to the A350 XWB Final Assembly Line in Toulouse.

Assembly of the first A350-1000 wings got underway in August this year at Airbus in Broughton and final assembly of the aircraft will begin in Toulouse early 2016, followed by the first flight second half 2016. First deliveries are scheduled to start mid-2017.

Measuring nearly 74 meters from nose to tail, the A350-1000 is the longest-fuselage version of Airbus’ all-new family of widebody jetliners. The A350-1000 comfortably seats 366 passengers in a typical 3-class configuration and flies on routes up to 8,000 nautical miles.

Maximising commonality with the A350-900, the A350-1000 offers best-in-class cabin efficiency and comfort, with new cabin crew rest compartment improvements, new In Flight Entertainment (IFE), optimised lavatory shapes and new galley arrangements. It will be powered by Trent XWB-97 engines for maximised thrust.

Orders for the A350-1000 stand at 169 firm orders from 9 customers. Total orders for the    A350 XWB programme stand at 782 orders from 40 customers.

Press release and picture Airbus Group