Another carrier’s new A350 takes to the air for the first time – with the first of Japan Airlines Airbus A350 fleet taking to their air on its maiden flight.
Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 on its maiden flight – Image Airbus
The first A350-900 completed its maiden flight in Toulouse, France. The A350-900 is the first aircraft to be produced by Airbus for the airline and features a special A350 logo on the fuselage.
With the first flight completed, the plane will complete the final phases of production, including fitting the cabin, completing ground and flight tests.
Once these are completed, the aircraft will be ready for customer acceptance and delivery.
This is the first of 31 A350 family aircraft. The order currently is split by 18 of the baseline A350-900, and 13 of the longer A350-1000.
Initially, the aircraft will be deployed on Japanese domestic routes.
A step change
Japan Airlines is a traditionally a Boeing customer – so this is a big change for the airline (with the mainline operation currently an-all Boeing fleet).
The subsidiaries have a more varied fleet including Saab 340, Embraer E-170 and E-190, ATR 42-600, ATR 72-600 and Bombardier Q400.
With an expected delivery in June and planned entry into service in September, Airbus has a lot to prove to Japan Airlines that a move to Airbus equipment is the right one.
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