Very soon, the brand new Airbus A350-1000 will be officially launched by Qatar Airways. In the meantime, the new plane has set off on a three week demonstration tour. This is the biggest plane of its type, at a length of almost 74 meters end to end, and can seat 40 extra passengers when compared with its predecessor, the Airbus A350-900. There are seats for 219 in comfort economy, 36 in economy plus and 40 in business class.
Enhancements from the A350-900 are many. This model has a new engine, an extremely powerful Rolls Royce Trent XWB-97. It also has six wheel landing gear and a new and improved wing trailing edge.
The year long testing phase was a success and this demonstration tour is set to be just as impressive. The tour started out with a visit to Doha, a fitting destination as this is the home of Qatar Airways who will be the first to use these new planes. A further 10 airlines have already placed orders for the A350-1000 with a total of 195 planes requested.
The route of the Airbus A350-100 demonstration tour
Want to catch a glimpse of this flagship plane? The ports of call on the 30,000 mile tour are: Muscat, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, Hanoi, Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney, Auckland, Tokyo and finally Manilla. The stop in Singapore is set to coincide with the Singapore Air Show, so any attendees to this event between 6th and 8th of February will have an extra special treat.
Hard-to-please Qatar Airways appear to be impressed
Qatar Airways are known for their stringent requirements and demand for the highest quality. It is not unknown for them to order aircraft then refuse to take delivery of them, or cancel orders entirely if they believe the quality of the planes is not as they expect. Luckily all seems to be going well with the Airbus A350-1000 and hopefully they’ll be filling our skies very soon.
A comfortable journey for passengers
With so many airlines all over the world having already ordered them, it won’t be long before we will all have a chance to fly on one of these magnificent planes. The level of comfort when travelling on the A350-1000 will be second to none. Even in comfort economy, the seats are a generous 18”, and if you travel business class, you’ll see some great changes, with double beds available, and seats that convert into a useful meeting space, perfect if you’re travelling with colleagues and want to make the most of your time in the air.
Emily is an avid writer with a passion for the travel industry. She also loves learning and writing about nutrition and healthy living. Emily is based in the UK.
