Tailspec
Airliner Airbus

Airbus A350-900

Wide-body, long-range, twin-engine commercial jet

Airbus A350-900
Photo: Via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA / public domain (per Wikimedia))

The Airbus A350-900 is the baseline variant of the A350 XWB (eXtra Wide Body) family — Airbus's clean-sheet response to the Boeing 787. With a carbon-fibre fuselage, panoramic curved windows, and the Trent XWB engine, it set new standards for long-haul efficiency on entry into service in 2015.

Specifications

First flight 2013-06-14
Entered service 2015-01-15
Production 2014–present
Crew 2 (flight deck)
Capacity 300–410 (typical configurations)
Length 0 m
Wingspan 0 m
Height 0 m
MTOW 0 kg
Max speed 0 km/h
Cruise speed 0 km/h
Range 0 km
Service ceiling 0 m
Engines 2 × Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 (XWB-97 on -1000)
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Airbus A350-900
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History

Airbus launched the A350 XWB in December 2006 after a major redesign of the original A350 concept that customers had rejected as insufficiently ambitious. The A350-900 made its first flight on 14 June 2013; Qatar Airways took the launch delivery on 22 December 2014 and began revenue service to Frankfurt in January 2015. By the mid-2020s the type had become Airbus's flagship long-haul, with strong sales to Singapore Airlines (including the A350-900ULR variant for Singapore–New York), Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, Delta, and many others.

Design

The A350 XWB shares the all-composite construction philosophy of the 787 but differs significantly in implementation: where the 787 uses a single composite barrel per fuselage section, Airbus chose composite panels on a metallic frame, simplifying repairs. The carbon-fibre wing is one of the largest ever built and features adaptive trailing edges. The cockpit retains the Airbus fly-by-wire sidestick philosophy and shares strong commonality with the A330 type rating, easing pilot transition. Trent XWB engines are mechanically simpler and lighter than competing offerings, contributing to the A350's fuel-burn lead.

Variants

Notable operators

Notable

The A350-900ULR variant operates the world's longest scheduled commercial route — Singapore to New York (Newark) — at over 16,700 km and up to 18 hours 50 minutes of block time. The A350-1000 with Trent XWB-97s is the world's most powerful twin-engine ETOPS aircraft, with the largest engine fan diameter currently in service.

See also

Sources

Last updated: 2026-05-06