Pins matching tag:Airbus

The first A350-900, MSN1 F-WXWB, took off from Toulouse-Blagnac at 10:00 local time on 14 June 2013 and flew for 4 hours 5 minutes over south-western France, opening a 2,500-hour flight-test campaign.

Airbus launched the re-engined A330neo on 14 July 2014, two Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 versions, the A330-800 and A330-900, promising 14% lower fuel burn per seat and up to 400 nm more range.

The first A320neo, F-WNEO with Pratt & Whitney PW1100G engines, flew from Toulouse-Blagnac on 25 September 2014, starting a 3,000-hour test campaign.

EASA issued the type certificate for the Airbus A350-900 on 30 September 2014 after more than 2,600 flight-test hours on five aircraft; FAA certification followed on 12 November.

Airbus handed over the first A350-900 to launch customer Qatar Airways at a ceremony in Toulouse on 22 December 2014, seven years after the airline placed its launch order at the Paris Air Show.

Qatar Airways started scheduled A350 flying on 15 January 2015 with Doha-Frankfurt, becoming the first airline to put the A350 XWB into commercial service and challenging Lufthansa at its home airport.

Lufthansa received the first A320neo on 20 January 2016, the launch customer for Pratt & Whitney-powered neos that Airbus said burn 15 percent less fuel.

The first A350-1000, MSN059 with Trent XWB-97 engines, flew from Toulouse-Blagnac on 24 November 2016 for 4 hours 18 minutes, starting a sub-one-year, three-aircraft test campaign.

The first A330neo, an A330-900 (MSN1795) with Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines, took off from Toulouse on 19 October 2017 and flew 4 hours 13 minutes. Airbus planned 1,100 flight hours for certification.

The A350-1000 received type certificates from both EASA and the FAA on 21 November 2017, less than a year after its first flight and after more than 1,600 flight-test hours on three aircraft.

Airbus and Emirates signed a contract for 20 additional A380s, with 16 further options, in a US$16 billion deal at list prices. It was widely read as keeping the A380 line alive.

Airbus handed over the world's first A350-1000 to launch customer Qatar Airways at Toulouse on 20 February 2018, the first Airbus aircraft fitted with the Qsuite business class, which flew its first revenue service four days later.

The Airbus-Bombardier C Series deal closed on 1 July 2018, giving Airbus 50.01 percent of the partnership; the jets were renamed the A220-100 and A220-300 on 10 July.

Airbus delivered the first A350-900ULR, MSN220 9V-SGA, to launch customer Singapore Airlines on 22 September 2018; the 161-seat, 9,700 nm aircraft restarted the Singapore-Newark nonstop three weeks later.

EASA certified the A330-900 on 26 September 2018 after about 1,400 flight-test hours in under a year. Airbus said FAA certification would follow shortly and the first delivery to TAP Air Portugal in the coming weeks.

Airbus delivered the first A330-900 to launch operator TAP Air Portugal on 26 November 2018, a 298-seat aircraft leased from Avolon. TAP will take 20 more A330-900s and use them on routes to the Americas and Africa.

On 14 February 2019 Airbus said it would stop delivering the A380 in 2021 after Emirates cut its order from 162 to 123 aircraft. Emirates ordered 40 A330-900s and 30 A350-900s worth US$21.4 billion at list prices instead.

Airbus announced with its half-year results on 29 July 2021 that its board had approved development of an A350 freighter derivative, targeting entry into service in 2025 with 20% less fuel burn than twin-engine freighters.

On 16 December 2021 Emirates received the last Airbus A380, A6-EVS, its 123rd, ending 14 years of deliveries. The ceremony was muted and the jet left Hamburg-Finkenwerder at 16:41 CET for Dubai.

Airbus's first A321XLR, MSN 11000, took off from Hamburg-Finkenwerder at 11:05 CEST on 15 June 2022 and flew about four and a half hours.

EASA certified the CFM LEAP-1A-powered A321XLR on 19 July 2024, clearing the 4,700 nmi single-aisle for service at the end of the summer.

Airbus delivered the first A321XLR to Iberia in Hamburg on 30 October 2024, making the Spanish carrier launch operator of the 4,700 nmi single-aisle.

The first A350-1000ULR, MSN707 F-WULR, flew from Toulouse on 2 June 2026 for 3 hours 43 minutes, starting a two-month campaign to certify the rear centre tank that lets Qantas plan 22-hour Project Sunrise flights.

The A350-1000ULR test aircraft left Toulouse at 07:33 on 23 July 2026 and landed in Melbourne 19 hours 12 minutes later, the first Project Sunrise aircraft to reach Australia; the return flight took 24 hours 24 minutes.

Airbus told Qantas its first ultra-long-range A350-1000ULR for Project Sunrise will arrive in April 2027, four months later than planned, pushing back nonstop Sydney-London flights.