Five Airbus A350s flying in formation – Photo: Airbus
On September 30th, the Airbus A350 XWB received Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). What better way to celebrate than to fly five Airbus A350-900 in formation? We can’t think of a better way. Luckily for us, there’s photos and video (the video is found lower in the story) for us to enjoy!
What’s better than one or two A350s flying in formation? Five of course – Photo: Airbus
’œReceiving the A350-900 Type Certification from EASA is a great achievement for Airbus and for all our partners who have contributed to designing, building and certificating this fantastic, new generation aircraft. The A350-900 is now ready to fly from the nest and be enjoyed by airlines and passengers,’ said Fabrice Brgier, Airbus President and CEO. ’œThe A350 XWB embodies many extra innovative technologies which make all the difference in passenger comfort and airline efficiency.’
The Airbus A350 endures -40 degrees Celsius during cold testing – Photo: Airbus
Airbus took MSN002, A350-900 test bed aircraft, to the US Air Force’s McKinley Climatic Laboratory to give it a bit of a chill. Eglin Air Force Base, which hosts the lab, is located in the sunny state of Florida, but is able to provide low temperature testing. The A350 XWB was subjected to “multiple climatic and humidity settings,” including temperatures from 113 deg F (45 C) down to -40 deg F (-40 C).
During engine tests, to keep the aircraft in place, it had to be chained down. But it was important to make sure the engines could start up and operate at different temperatures.
Many of the A350 systems were checked during the tests including the in-flight entertainment, air conditioning, galleys, and water & waste systems. Luckily for us, Airbus did a great job documenting the process via photos and video.
An Air Caraîbes Airbus A330 touching down at St. Martin – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter
Air Caraîbes is based at Pointe-à -Pitre International Airport (airport code: PTP) in Guadeloupe. It is a French airline, founded in July of 2000, that mostly flies from Paris to destinations in the Caribbean. In 2012, the airline flew 1.2 millions passengers, 750,000 of which were on long-haul routes.
It operates a fleet of five Airbus A330s (one -200 and four -300s) and three ATR 72s. They currently have six A350s on order (three for the -900 and three for the -1000).
A hybrid Qatar Airways/Airbus livery is painted onto the latest test A350XWB – Photo: Airbus
In Toulouse, France this past week, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker made a visit to inspect the Airbus A350XWB manufacturing line ahead of the first delivery of the type to the airline later this year. As Al Baker inspected the A350 line, along with senior Qatar & Airbus management, Airbus revealed a special livery for their latest aircraft (MSN004).
MSN004 was painted in a hybrid Airbus & Qatar Airlines launch customer livery. Part Qatar Airways at the front, and the standard Airbus livery in the rear, the most noticeable features are the striking Oryx logos, not only on the aircraft body but also on the unique A350 winglets.
The aircraft will soon join the Airbus test fleet, where it will will be used for external noise and lightning tests, avionics development & certification, and training for the first customer pilots & maintenance teams.
Just-launched Boeing 777-8X & 777-9X, ordered in record numbers at the Dubai Airshow – Image: Boeing
The first day of the 2013 Dubai Airshow kicked off with a bang. As we slept, Boeing racked up 225 new orders for their newly-launched 777X program. With the existing 34 orders from Lufthansa, the official launch of the plane comes with huge order support from customers. “We are proud to partner with each of these esteemed airlines to launch the 777X ’“ the largest and most-efficient twin-engine jetliner in the world,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. “Its ground-breaking engine technologies and all-new composite wing will deliver unsurpassed value and growth potential to our customers.”
Night-time rendering of Boeing 777-9X – Image: Boeing
The 777X program wasn’t the only Day One winner for Boeing, however. Etihad also booked orders for 30 787-10s, which brings their total Dreamliner orders up to 71 – making them the largest airline customer for the 787 and pushing the program over 1,000 orders. Mideast short-haul carrier flydubai also made an order for 100 Boeing 737 MAX8 birds.
