Sixty-Three-Foot Piece Ready To Be Mated To Center Fuselage

Airbus has delivered the front fuselage for the first flyable A350 XWB (MSN1) to the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse, France. The impressive 63-foot long section is already equipped with its systems, and was flown in from Airbus’ site in Saint-Nazaire, France, by the Airbus Beluga transport aircraft.

The A350 XWB front fuselage section will be mounted in the giant assembly jig ready to be joined with the centre and aft fuselage sections over the summer period. Before they are arrive at the FAL, the aircraft sections are equipped and pre-assembled at Airbus sites in the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany. All these major sections are transported to the FAL by the Beluga aircraft.

The composite A350, designed to compete with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, will eventually be offered in three sizes ranging from 250-350 seats. The Planemaker says all A350 XWB Family members can be configured for higher density layouts of up to 440 seats.

On its webstie, Airbus says over 70 per cent of the A350 XWB’s weight-efficient airframe is made from advanced materials, combining 53 per cent of composite structures with titanium and advanced aluminum alloys.

FMI: www.airbus.com