Airbus

Airbus has begun final assembly of the first A350-1000, the largest member of the wide-body A350 XWB family of aircraft, at its final assembly line (FAL) in Toulouse, France.

The A350-1000 is one of the three flight test aircraft to be built by the company and will take its first flight by the end of the year. Deliveries of A350-1000 are scheduled from mid-2017.

To assemble the A350-1000 and simultaneously manufacture A350-900 models at the FAL, Airbus added three more final assembly stations.

In addition, the company kept the option to use all stations in the A350 XWB FAL for both models.

A350-1000 is similar to the A350-900 and is 74m long from nose to tail.

"The A350-1000 is one of the three flight test aircraft to be built by the company and will take its first flight by the end of the year."

Powered by Rolls Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, the A350-1000 can accommodate 366 passengers in a three-class configuration and can fly on routes of up to 8,000 nautical miles.

The A350-1000 is currently at station 50 for fuselage joining and nose landing gear installation, and will be transferred to station 40 for installation of its wings, main landing gear, pylons and tail planes.

In order to save time and fast track the A350 assembly process, Airbus started furnishing the cabin and first electrical power-on, as well as the structural assembly work.

On completion of this phase, the aircraft will continue through the remaining FAL process, including final structural activities, ground tests, painting, cabin and cockpit completion and engine installation before being moved to the flight test centre.

Airbus currently has 181 A350-1000 orders from ten customers.

In January, Airbus stated assembly of the main airframe sections of the first A350 XWB for China Airlines at the company’s FAL, with delivery scheduled in the third quarter of this year.

Image: The first A350-1000 aircraft at its final assembly line in Toulouse, France. Photo: courtesy of Airbus.