Airbus A350 MSN001: First Flight and Developmental Timeline

Airbus set the first flight of the A350 for 14 June 2013, two days after this post went up. MSN001 was due to lift off at 08:00 UTC, which is 10:00 in Toulouse and 13:30 in India. With the announcement, Airbus said the A350 programme was on schedule and that entry into service was expected in the second half of 2014. That was worth noting, because back in September 2010 Airbus had expected to deliver the first A350 in 2013.

Why the A350 exists

The A350 came out of pressure from airlines. Boeing's 787 was a direct threat to the Airbus A330, and customers wanted an answer. Airbus formally announced an A350 programme towards the end of 2004. That first version was a derivative of the A330, and it drew criticism for not being a clean sheet design. In mid 2006 Airbus responded with the A350 XWB, an all new aircraft. In short, the A350 XWB was a response Airbus was pushed into by the 787.

MSN001

MSN001 is an A350-941 registered F-WXWB. Its Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines were the largest ever fitted to an Airbus airliner, each producing 374 kN of thrust, which is close to 37,500 kg of force. The A350-900 seats about the same number of passengers as a Boeing 777-200, around 314 in a three class layout, and has roughly the range of a 787-9 at about 8,100 nautical miles. It looked set to fill the gap between the two.

Not every airline was pleased with the trend. Lufthansa chief executive Christoph Franz observed that pressure from the fast growing Gulf carriers was pushing both Airbus and Boeing to design aircraft with more range and more engine power than most other operators needed, leaving European airlines with over designed aircraft carrying extra weight.

Timeline of MSN001

Here are the main milestones in the life of the first A350 XWB, as compiled at the time.

• January 2009: the A350 XWB design is frozen.
• November 2010: the longest fuselage panel for the A350 XWB completes curing.
• March 2011: the largest composite fuselage panel completes curing.
• July 2011: work begins on a key component of the first horizontal tailplane at Airbus's centre of excellence in Puerto Real, Spain.
• August 2011: the first centre wing box leaves Nantes, France, for Saint-Nazaire, where it is later built into the first fuselage.
• September 2011: the upper wing cover made in Stade, Germany, and the lower cover made in Illescas, Spain, arrive at the wing assembly site in Broughton, UK. The first nose section travels from Aerolia's site in Meaulte to Saint-Nazaire. Premium Aerotec assembles the first forward fuselage at Nordenham, Germany.
• October 2011: the first Trent XWB flight test engine is installed on the A380 flying test bed. Assembly of the first horizontal tailplane starts in Getafe, Spain.
• November 2011: assembly of the first 32 metre carbon fibre wings begins at the new North Factory in Broughton, after pre-assembly of ribs, covers and fixed leading and trailing edges.
• December 2011: Airbus starts joining the first 21 metre front fuselage section in Saint-Nazaire.
• February 2012: the Trent XWB makes its maiden flight on the A380 flying test bed.
• March 2012: structural assembly of the first aft fuselage for MSN1 is completed in Hamburg.
• July 2012: the front fuselage for MSN1 is delivered to the final assembly line in Toulouse.
• August 2012: the MSN1 flight deck is powered on, an important step towards full aircraft power on because it allows most system checks to begin.
• October 2012: the vertical tailplane of MSN1 comes out of the Toulouse paint hall.
• November 2012: wing join up starts in the Roger Beteille final assembly line; wings are attached and items such as spoilers are installed.
• December 2012: main structural assembly and system connection of MSN1 are completed.
• February 2013: the Trent XWB receives EASA type certification; the first A350 XWB with complete wings emerges for outdoor testing.
• March 2013: Trent XWB engines and the Honeywell APU are installed on MSN001.
• May 2013: painting of the first A350 XWB is completed in Toulouse.
• June 2013: the engines of the first A350 XWB are run for the first time.
• 14 June 2013: first flight expected, with a six member flight crew.