[Greg Hyde]

Airbus showcases A350-1000 in Sydney

Airbus showcased its Airbus A350-1000 to Qantas in Sydney on Monday morning during the type’s first visit to Australia.

The biggest member of the Airbus’s A350 XWB family was in Sydney as part of a world tour ahead of the type’s first delivery to launch customer Qatar Airways on February 20.
F-WLXV, as flight AIB107, departs Sydney on its demonstration flight. (Victor Pody)

The aircraft, MSN065 F-WLXV, is Airbus’s third A350-1000 flight test airframe, and operated a short return flight from Sydney Airport with a number of Qantas senior executives onboard, including Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce.
Alan Joyce ahead of the demonstration flight. (Bernie Proctor)

Qantas is particularly interested in the A350 design for its Project Sunrise requirement for an aircraft capable of flying nonstop from the east coast of Australia to both London and New York (for which Boeing is expected to offer a development of its Boeing 777-8X). The aircraft will also be demonstrated to Air New Zealand in Auckland on Tuesday, while in the past Virgin Australia has also shown interest in Airbus’s newest widebody design.

“When we look at the total [A350] backlog 35 per cent of the total orders of the A350 belong to customers in Asia Pacific,” head of A350 marketing Marisa Lucas-Ugena told media ahead of the demonstration flight.

http://australianaviation.com.au/201...000-in-sydney/