The Airbus A350 is a long-range, mid-size, wide-body family of airliners currently under development by European manufacturing group Airbus. The A350 will be the first Airbus with fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. The A350 is designed to compete with the Boeing 777 and the Boeing 787. Airbus claims that it will be more fuel-efficient, with up to 8% lower operating cost than the Boeing 787. It is sched...
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The Airbus A350 is a long-range, mid-size, wide-body family of airliners currently under development by European manufacturing group Airbus. The A350 will be the first Airbus with fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. The A350 is designed to compete with the Boeing 777 and the Boeing 787. Airbus claims that it will be more fuel-efficient, with up to 8% lower operating cost than the Boeing 787. It is scheduled to enter into airline service in 2013. The launch customer for the Airbus A350 is Qatar Airways, which ordered the -900 variant.
When Boeing announced its 787 Dreamliner project, it claimed the lower operating costs of this airplane would make it a serious threat to the Airbus A330. In public announcements, Airbus initially rejected this claim, stating that the 787 was itself just a reaction to the A330, and that no response was needed to the 787.
The airlines pushed Airbus to provide a competitor, as Boeing had committed the 787 to have...
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