Scheduled for entry-into-service in second
half of 2014, the A350 XWB has already won 616
firm orders from 34 customers worldwide. The
Airbus A350 XWB is a family of long-range,
wide-body jet airliners under development by
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The A350
will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and
wing structures made primarily of carbon
fiber-reinforced polymer. It will carry 250 to
350 passengers in three-class seating, depending
on variant.
Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer,
carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic or carbon-fiber
reinforced thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP or
often simply carbon fiber), is an extremely
strong and light fiber-reinforced polymer which
contains carbon fibers. The polymer is most
often epoxy, but other polymers, such as
polyester, vinyl ester or nylon, are sometimes
used (see
GAO safety concerns in the use of carbon fibers
in aircraft).
The A350 was originally conceived in 2004 as a
widely new design, but with a fuselage based on
the A330. This was rejected by some prospective
customers. The 2006 redesigned A350 was named by
Airbus as the A350 XWB, where the XWB stands for
eXtra Wide Body. Airbus stated that it will be
more fuel-efficient and have operating costs up
to 8% lower than the Boeing 787.
The launch customer for the A350 is Qatar
Airways, which ordered 80 aircraft across the
three variants. Development costs are projected
to be US$15 billion. The airliner is scheduled
to enter airline service in mid-2014. As of
February 2013, 617 aircraft have been ordered.
The Trent XWB is a series of turbofan engines,
developed from the RB211 and it is used
exclusively for the Airbus A350 XWB. The first
engine test on a static test-bed was made in
June 2010 and on Feb 18th 2012 Airbus announced
that the Trent XWB had successfully made its
maiden flight aboard Airbus’ dedicated Airbus
A380 “Flying-Test-Bed” Certification for the
early engine variants was achieved in 2013. |