Airbus A350: el avión más avanzado
Video from the channel SkyShips en Español about Airbus A350, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 17:00. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
An explainer piece covering the history, design, versions and commercial career of the Airbus A350 XWB. It is a long-haul, extra-wide-body passenger aircraft, and the first Airbus to make extensive use of composite materials.
Historical context
In the early 2000s, faced with Boeing's 7E7 project (the future 787 Dreamliner), Airbus first studied an A330-200 Lite with improved aerodynamics and new engines, then an A350 with a new wing and tail. Customers criticised both proposals for being derivatives of the A330. In 2006 Airbus announced a completely new design, the A350 XWB, with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, Thales avionics and Rockwell Collins tail elements. A380 production preparations delayed the programme. The first flight took place on 14 July 2013. In 2014 it received type certification and ETOPS 370, and in 2015 Qatar Airways launched commercial service between Doha and Frankfurt.
Key facts
53% of the fuselage is composite. Its cross-section is oval, with an outer diameter of 5.97 m, and the carbon-fibre wing ends in sharklets. The cockpit, unified with the A380's, has 15-inch LCD screens and a head-up display. The A350-900 has a maximum take-off weight of up to 280 t, seats around 350 passengers in three classes and has a range of 15,000 km. The A350-1000 is 74 m long and reaches 16,000 km at 319 t. Singapore Airlines' ULR version, with 67 business-class seats and 94 premium economy seats, operates the Singapore–New York route. The video also mentions the discontinued A350-800, the A350 Regional that was never launched, the ACJ350 version, and Qatar Airways' 2021 lawsuit over fuselage surface degradation.