aero

German subcontractor Premium Aerotec has delivered the complete front fuselage section for the first A350-1000 in Hamburg, where it will be fitted to the Beluga aircraft before being flown to Saint-Nazaire.

French contractor Stelia Aerospace delivered the nose fuselage section to Airbus in Saint-Nazaire for assembly and installation.

Before being flown to the A350 XWB final assembly line in Toulouse, the A350-1000 forward and nose fuselage sections will be joined in Saint-Nazaire to form the complete front fuselage.

In August, Airbus began production of the A350-1000’s carbon fibre wings at Broughton, North Wales.

"[It has] new cabin crew rest compartment developments, in-flight entertainment (IFE) and galley arrangements, as well as optimised lavatory shapes."

The aircraft is scheduled to fly by the first second half 2016, and its deliveries will start in the second half of 2017.

Said to be the longest fuselage version of Airbus’s all-new wide-body jetliners, A350-1000 is nearly 74m-long from nose to tail.

A350-1000 can fly 366 passengers in a typical three-class configuration at a speed of up to 8,000 nautical miles (nm).

The aeroplane incorporates new cabin crew rest compartment developments, in-flight entertainment (IFE) and galley arrangements, as well as optimised lavatory shapes.

As with the first edition of the A350-900, the A350-1000 will also be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines.

Airbus has received 169 firm orders from nine customers for the A350-1000. It has received total 782 order for the entire A350 XWB programme.

Image: The first complete front fuselage section for the A350-1000 in Hamburg. Photo: courtesy of Airbus.