Taking shape

The A350 moves from promise to reality

After years of reworking its A350 XWB to meet market demands and refining its production process to learn from both the A380 and 787 troubles, Airbus is about to discover whether its ambitious promises can be turned into reality.

While the 787 may lay claim to the unwanted tag of longest development from go-ahead to first flight and delivery, the A350 XWB can claim the longest design phase, having been initially offered to customers in December 2004 with the final design of the lead -900 variant only being frozen in 2011, after two major redesign efforts.