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Cathay Pacific A350-1000 performs first flight
May 4th 2018
Cathay Pacific Airways’ first A350-1000 performed its maiden flight on Thursday in Toulouse. Read More » The aircraft, MSN118, departed from Blagnac at 11:24am local time and returned to the Airbus facilities after a five hour journey.
The maiden flight was set for May 9, but the aircraft was finished ahead of schedule so Cathay and Airbus moved the first flight forward by a week. First delivery to the Hong Kong airline is scheduled for mid to late June. Cathay Pacific has ordered 20 -1000s and 26 -900s and has taken delivery of 22 -900s.
The airline will conduct familiarization flights for 1,000 crew to Manila, Taipei and Bangkok from July and launch Hong Kong-Washington DC with the stretched A350 in September.
To date, Qatar Airways is the sole operator of the A350-1000. It received the world’s first -1000 in February and flies the plane from Doha to London. Qatar Airways Group CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said earlier this week the performance of the -1000 had exceeded the airline’s expectations.
