Component Was Produced At Airbus’ Center Of Excellence For Composite Materials In Spain

The first A350 XWB wing lower cover (WLC) has been transported from Airbus’ composites manufacturing site in Illescas, Spain, to Airbus’ wing assembly site in Broughton, United Kingdom, where it will be installed on to the wing of the first A350 XWB to fly, MSN001. The wing lower cover was recently produced at Airbus’ Center of Excellence for composite materials in Illescas, Spain; the part measures approximately 105 feet long by nearly 20 feet wide, making it the biggest carbon fiber part ever produced in civil aviation.

Lower Wing Cover Loaded For Transport

“This is a major milestone for the A350 XWB program and for Airbus in Spain”, said Rafael González-Ripoll, Head of Airbus’ Center of Excellence Empennage & Aft -fuselage, “The delivery of the first flying A350 XWB wing lower cover pays tribute to the tremendous achievements made by a highly qualified, technical team. We have again demonstrated our expertise in designing, industrialising and manufacturing primary structures in carbon fibre with the A350 XWB, building on past experiences with other Airbus programs.”

The wing cover will be fitted into the A350 XWB wing in Broughton and afterwards will be transported to Bremen (Germany) where the movable parts will be fitted. Later on, the sub-assembly will go to A350 XWB Final Assembly Line in Toulouse, where it will be joined to the fuselage.

The A350 XWB Family will consist of three passenger versions with long-range capability. The "Family" concept allows airlines to best match their A350 XWB fleets to route capacity demands, guaranteeing optimum revenue potential.

FMI: www.airbus.com