Airbus A350 set to fly at Paris Air Show
Airbus' new energy-efficient A350 XWB will be in attendance at the Paris Air Show this year.
After a successful second test flight on June 19 following a maiden voyage on June 14, Airbus confirmed that the new wide-body A350 will be topping off the week at the show for attendees. Online viewers can also watch the flight live.
Airbus tweeted on Thursday:
"How to cap off a great week at #PAS13? How about a flyby of the #A350? Looks like a good possibility for tomorrow at the air show!"
The manufacturer later added, "For those at #PAS13 Friday, we now know #A350 is slated to do a flyby of the show between 12:30 & 13:30 (weather permitting)." The possibility of rainfall may be a problem at the Le Bourget Airport, and could still stop the plane from taking off.
In March, Airbus announced that it has received a $24 billion order for 234 A320 family aircrafts by Indonesia's budget airline Lion Air, bringing total figures up to $37.8 billion. In addition, the carrier has sold 20 double-decker A380 jets for $8 billion.
Airbus sales have now reached a total of $68.7 billion through 466 aircraft orders. At the show, the French manufacturer secured an additional 69 orders and commitments worth $21.4 billion from carriers including Singapore Airlines, United Airlines and Sri Lankan.
The jet competes directly with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Airbus CEO John Leahy commented:
"The dramatic rainfall and thunder storms at Le Bourget this year didn't dampen our order intake. Our A350 XWB has been out-selling the 787 by better than 2- to-1 over the last five years. In addition our A320neo Family retains a 60 percent market share lead. That’s a ‘corner’ I want to stay boxed into."
The rapidly-growing airline is also said to have potentially secured sales from Qatar Airways of up to 15 of its A330 passenger jets due to Boeing Dreamliner production delays in the wake of the fleet's grounding due to safety concerns.
Read More: CNET
Image credit: Airbus
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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com