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Air China and Sichuan Airlines accept first A350s
August 10th 2018
Both Air China and Sichuan Airlines took delivery of their first A350-900s in Toulouse on Wednesday, August 8, an auspicious date for Mainland Chinese. Read More »
Air China was the first Chinese airline to order and take ownership of the XWB. Officially, the carrier has placed orders for 10 A350s, although Orient Aviation understands more commitments for the type have been made.
Powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWBs, Air China’s A350s feature 32 business, 24 premium economy and 256 economy class seats. For the first time, Air China has selected an all-aisle-access 1-2-1 configuration for the business cabin. The airline will initially operate the A350 on domestic routes from its Beijing hub to Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport, followed by flights to international destinations.
As of this month, Air China operates 201 Airbus aircraft: 142 A320 Family aircraft and 59 A330 Family aircraft.
Sichuan Airlines on Wednesday took delivery of its first of 14 on-order A350-900s. The first four airplanes will be leased from AerCap and the remainder purchased directly from Airbus.
Sichuan Airlines’ A350s feature 28 business and 303 economy class seats with a 1-2-1 business class configuration. The airline will initially operate the new aircraft from its Chengdu hub to Beijing and Shanghai’s Pudong Airport, followed by its international “Panda Routes”.
Sichuan Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet of 123 A320 Family aircraft and 12 A330 Family aircraft. The partnership between Sichuan Airlines and Airbus dates from 1995 when the airline introduced the A320, becoming the first airline to operate an Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft on the Mainland. It also was the first airline to accept delivery of a Tianjin-assembled A320 Family aircraft.
