News
Air China to receive first A350 in November
August 18th 2017
Mainland flag carrier, Air China, will receive the first of ten on-order A350-900s in November. Read More »
Starting December 1, the Star Alliance member will roster the XWB on domestic crew familiarization flights from its Beijing hub to Guangzhou and Chengdu, before also deploying the new type on Beijing- Sanya from February 1. No International A350 flights have been scheduled.
Air China, China Eastern (20) and China Southern (20) have ordered Airbus’ latest wide body. Sichuan Airlines will lease four A350s, with the first aircraft to arrive at the carrier in the fourth quarter.
In comparison, Boeing’s competing B787 series has sold much better on the Mainland. The U.S. manufacturer has booked 118 direct orders for the aircraft type from Chinese airlines.
In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Airways has 48 XWBs in its order book and Hong Kong Airlines has commitments for 15 A350s, with the first to be delivered to the airline later this month.
The A350 comes in two variants, the -900 and the -1000. The latter completed its maiden flight last November and will be delivered to launch customer, Qatar Airways, by year-end. “Airbus has assured us we would receive our airplane, though late, but we will receive it before the end of the year,” Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, told Reuters last week.
Airbus commercial chief, Fabrice Bregier, told Orient Aviation in June the reliability rate of the A350 was now close to 99%, ahead of the manufacturer’s internal targets and confirmed the ramp-up for the A350 was on track for 10 XWBs a month by the end of 2018.
