PARIS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Airbus's first A350 XWB, renowned for its fuel-saving, took on Friday morning its maiden flight at Blagnac in Toulouse, southwestern France, announced Airbus in a statement.
The twin-engined commercial aircraft, equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofans, carried an international crew of six on board for the first flight, including two Flight Test Pilots, one Test Flight Engineer and three Flight Test Engineers, said Airbus.
"This first flight marks the beginning of a test campaign totaling around 2,500 flight hours with a fleet of five development aircraft," Airbus noted.
The rigorous flight testing will lead to the certification of the A350-900 variant by the European EASA and U.S. FAA airworthiness authorities, prior to entry into service in the second half of 2014 with first operator Qatar Airways.
The A350 XWB is Airbus' all-new mid-size long range product line comprising three versions and seating between 270 and 350 passengers in spacious three-class layouts.
The new family will bring a step change in efficiency compared with existing aircraft in this size category, using 25 per cent less fuel and providing an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions.
To date the A350 XWB has already won 613 firm orders from 33 customers worldwide.
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