{"id":8464,"date":"2013-06-15T04:17:51","date_gmt":"2013-06-15T04:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/first-flight-of-airbus-a350-reopens-competition\/"},"modified":"2013-06-15T04:17:47","modified_gmt":"2013-06-15T04:17:47","slug":"first-flight-of-airbus-a350-reopens-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/first-flight-of-airbus-a350-reopens-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"First flight of Airbus A350 Reopens Competition with Boeing"},"content":{"rendered":"

{{Airbus sent a new wide-body plane into the skies Friday that sets the stage for intensifying competition with U.S. rival Boeing – with consequences for jobs, airlines’ investments and the reputations of the powerful plane makers.}}<\/p>\n

After years of delays and a revamp that cost billions, the A350 cruised for four hours in partly cloudy skies above Toulouse in southern France.
\nMost importantly, it then landed safely.<\/p>\n

It met ear-to-ear smiles – and some sighs of relief – among the Airbus engineers and executives who helped the plane reach its maiden journey.<\/p>\n

The flight marks a key step on the path to full certification for the jet, which can carry between 250 and 400 passengers and is the European aircraft-maker’s best hope for catching up in a long-haul market dominated by Boeing’s 777 and the 787, known as the Dreamliner.<\/p>\n

“At the end of the day you need to make it real, and this is the time for making it real. So I am very proud already,” Didier Evrard, head of the A350 program, said while watching the flight.<\/p>\n

“But I will be still nervous until it comes back.”<\/p>\n

Airspace over Toulouse, where Airbus has its headquarters, closed for both take-off and landing. With distinctive, upturned wing tips, the plane had a great big “A350” painted across its belly, heightening anticipation that it will fly at the Paris Air Show next week.<\/p>\n

The plane’s undercarriage remained down for the first part of the flight, so that they could run through a series of checks and ensure it was ready for the full flight.<\/p>\n

Airbus has 613 orders for the A350, and hopes Friday’s flight will bring it momentum heading into next week’s Paris Air Show, which is already shaping up as a battle of the wide-body planes.<\/p>\n

“There is a lot of money at stake, a lot of employment at stake. This is an extremely important political, social and economic issue,” said Gerald Feldzer, a French aviation expert and former airline pilot.<\/p>\n

Airbus’ potential customers, the world’s airlines, have all been squeezed by high aviation fuel costs and a fall in passengers because of the struggling world economy. Carriers are therefore looking for ways to run their fleets more cost-effectively.<\/p>\n

More than half of the twin-engine A350 consists of lightweight carbon-fiber designed to save on jet fuel, which makes up half the cost of long-haul flights.
\nAirbus claims the A350 is 25 percent more fuel-efficient than comparable planes.<\/p>\n

The A350, which was delayed for two years as Airbus hashed out a new design, is a competitor to the 787 – minus the lithium ion batteries now under investigation for unexplained smoldering. Airbus abandoned its plans to use the lithium ion batteries despite their advantages in weight, power and re-charging speed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

{The Airbus A350 takes off successfully on its maiden flight at Blagnac airport near Toulouse, southwestern France, Friday, June 14, 2013.}<\/p>\n

wirestory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{{Airbus sent a new wide-body plane into the skies Friday that sets the stage for intensifying competition with U.S. rival Boeing – with consequences for jobs, airlines’ investments and the reputations of the powerful plane makers.}} After years of delays and a revamp that cost billions, the A350 cruised for four hours in partly cloudy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[101],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-8464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-internationl","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8464"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=8464"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=8464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}