The Airbus A350F Makes Its First Flight

• Airbus flew its first A350F freighter, MSN700 (F-WXLD), from Toulouse-Blagnac on 29 September 2026, taking off at about 10:30 local time on runway 14R; the five-person crew was test pilots Bernardo Saez-Benito Hernandez and Sylvain Guiraud, test-flight engineer Ludovic Girard and flight-test engineers Laurent Bussiere and Jaime Angoloti Benavides^[1][2]
• The flight lasted 4 hours 10 minutes: the crew checked handling in direct law, engine behaviour and core systems, reached 340 knots indicated airspeed and 25,000 ft, then switched on normal law once the aerodynamic and structural model matched the simulator predictions^[1]
• It opened a planned 10-month, 400-flight-hour test campaign towards EASA type certification, with MSN701 still in final assembly and ground tests before its paint shop slot^[1]
• The date slipped from the "around 24 September" Reuters sources had reported in August, which had also warned that technical issues or weather could push first flight into October
• Entry into service had already slipped: in February 2025 Airbus pushed the A350F's EIS back to the second half of 2027 from an earlier expectation of 2026
• CEO Guillaume Faury said on the July Q2 results call that flight tests would start immediately after first flight as "a very dense flight test programme", targeting certification and first delivery ideally by the end of 2027, with deliveries in significant numbers from 2028
• The first flight follows five years of detailed planning, component and demonstrator testing^[6]
• Ground preparation is complete: ground vibration testing was carried out in Toulouse over three days in June, alongside cargo loading trials with the cargo loading system, main-deck door closing checks and pressure tests with all systems installed; test rigs for the Main-Deck Cargo Door actuation and Cargo Loading System ran in parallel in Bremen, Germany^[4][5][6]
• By 15 September 2026 the first aircraft had been painted — in a livery unveiled the previous month making it look like a parcel — and was in final flight-line checks before handover to the flight test community, with the second aircraft following through the final assembly line, according to A350F chief engineer Joël Rocker^[5]
• By 16 September MSN700 had been handed over to the flight-test team and MSN701 was being prepared for the certification campaign^[4]
• Airbus completed the "Virtual First Flight" programme: 13 simulator sessions of roughly five hours each, using a development simulator connected to real avionics test benches including actual flight controls and digital engine control systems, which Lead Flight Test Engineer Laurent Bussiere called "90% representative of the physical aircraft"^[4][6]
• A dedicated simulation session for the five-person first-flight crew — two pilots, one test flight engineer and two flight test engineers — was held at the start of September^[6]
• The first flight was planned to be flown in Direct Law rather than Normal Law, because about 10% of the derivative's aerodynamic characteristics are still treated as an unverified model^[4][6]
• The certification campaign is planned to run roughly nine months and about 400 flight hours, split between MSN700 (aerodynamic performance, handling qualities, flight control laws, autopilot) and MSN701 (systems, air conditioning, fire and smoke detection, plus the hot and cold weather campaign)^[4][6]
• MSN700 carries a specialised tail skid and bumper for takeoff performance testing and will clear the flight control laws first so MSN701 can fly in Normal Law on its own first flight; MSN701's fire and smoke testing will eventually allow MSN700 to fly with real cargo aboard^[6]
• Flutter (flight vibration) tests are to be conducted during the first three months of the flight test campaign
• Cargo maturity is a focus from the outset, with a target of loading and unloading representative containers and payloads every day after flight, and some operators invited to trial their own ULDs and pallets^[4][6]
• Both test aircraft have a redesigned flight test instrumentation station in the forward courier area behind the pilots, with recording computers consolidated onto a single pallet in the lower-deck forward cargo area to keep the main deck clear, and large LED screens with a modern graphical interface^[4][6]
• EASA is already monitoring, reviewing and approving the official flight test plan and will place pilots and flight test engineers onboard as witnesses during performance flights, with formal certification activity planned for 2027^[4][6]
• Airbus is targeting simultaneous EASA and FAA certification under the latest Amendment 27 safety regulations; the certification basis and means of compliance were agreed with both authorities several years ago, per Rocker, who said in April that first flight was expected in September or October^[5]
• Airbus has said certification is targeted by the middle of 2027, leaving a maximum of about 14 months from first flight to reach its goal of first deliveries by the end of 2027^[5]

Notable features

• The A350F is Airbus' first clean-sheet large freighter in the A350 family and is marketed as "the only new generation freighter", based on the A350 passenger aircraft^[3][4]
• Its fuselage is a hybrid: an A350-900-length forward fuselage mated to an A350-1000-length rear fuselage and A350-1000 wings — "not an A350-1000 and not an A350-900, but rather between both" — creating a new aerodynamic model, while new landing gear geometry changes ground manoeuvring, which is why a dedicated flight test programme is required rather than treating it as a simple derivative^[4][6]
• Payload up to 111 tonnes, with 30 main-deck containers and 40 LD3s in the lower deck, and a claimed +11% volume^[3][4]
• Range of 4,700 nautical miles (8,700 km) depending on payload, enough to fly the benchmark Hong Kong–Anchorage cargo route at full payload^[3][4]
• Dimensions: 70.80 m (232 ft 4 in) long, 64.75 m (212 ft 5 in) geometric wingspan, 17.08 m (56 ft 1 in) high^[3]
• Largest main deck cargo door in its class: 4,445 mm (175 in) cut-out and 4,305 mm (169.5 in) clear opening, said to be 15% wider than the Boeing 777F's and to surpass the 747F's nose and side doors, allowing large aircraft engines and oversized cargo to be loaded in one go without disassembly^[3][4]
• Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, with more than 70% advanced materials in the airframe; Airbus claims at least 20% lower fuel burn and CO₂ than competitor aircraft and 40% lower versus the aircraft it is meant to replace, plus a 78-tonne lighter MTOW^[3][4]
• Claimed to be the first and only freighter able to fully meet the enhanced ICAO CO₂ standards taking effect in 2027, with quieter operations and up to 50% SAF capability at entry into service (100% targeted by 2030)^[3][4]
• High commonality with the A350 passenger family: 100% in engine spares and tooling, 99% in airframe tools, 98% in spares, with A350-rated flight crews and technicians transitioning quickly; the A350 family recorded 99.5% operational reliability in 2024^[3]
• Cabin and systems tailored to cargo: a 6,000 ft cabin altitude suitable for live animals, a flight crew rest compartment with one seat and two beds, air conditioning segregating cargo airflow from crew areas and able to cool to 4°C, and a floor design optimised for flexible pallet loading and centre-of-gravity management^[3]