Dec 23, 2014 7:30 AM

Gallery: Airbus' Answer to the Boeing Dreamliner Is Now in Service

Airbus
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Qatar Airways will fly its new A350 between Doha and Frankfurt.
Airbus
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The A350-XWB (for extra widebody) will come in three varieties: the A350-800, -900, and -1000, which will seat 276, 315, and 369 passengers, respectively.

Airbus
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Passengers will sit six or seven abreast in business class, and nine or 10 across in economy, depending on how the airline decides to set up the seats.
Airbus
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The A350's in-air testing program began in June 2013, when it flew for the first time.

HGE
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The test program included zapping the plane with electricity to simulate an in-air lightning strike.
EXMHGE
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By now, the five planes in the test fleet have logged 2,500 hours in the air.

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Components that go into the A350 are sent to Airbus plants in France, Germany, Spain and the UK. Those plants produce the big parts of the plane, including the fuselage, wings, engines, and tail.
TCHAIKOVSKI Artem
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Airbus A350 XWB Finnair
Those chunks are then sent to Toulouse, where they're assembled into a finished aircraft.

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The original design of the A350 called for the use of the lithium ion batteries that are prone to overheating and caused major problems for Boeing's Dreamliner. Those troubles led Airbus to make the switch to more proven nickel cadmium batteries.
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Airbus gave back some of the weight savings it gained from the use of composites to make bigger windows. The A350, it says, has the widest in the industry.

MASTERFILMS
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The "winglets" on the tips of the wings measure 17 feet and are designed to improve the plane's aerodynamics.
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In October 2014, the A350-900 was certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency to stray as far as 370 minutes from the nearest airport. That means it can take the most direct routes between distant cities.

MASTERFILMS
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The delivery of the first A350 to Qatar Airways was part of a celebration that included a dramatic reveal and musical performances.

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