A350 XWB
The Airbus A350 is a long-range, mid-size, wide-body family of airliners currently under development by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The A350 will be the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic. The A350 is designed to compete with the Boeing 777 and the Boeing 787. Airbus claims that it will be more fuel-efficient, with up to 8% lower operating cost than the Boeing 787. It is scheduled to enter into airline service in 2013. The launch customer for the Airbus A350 is Qatar Airways, which ordered 80 of all three variants. Development costs are projected to be US billion. In mid-2006 Airbus undertook a major review of the A350 concept. The proposed new A350 with a larger fuselage cross-section has become more of a competitor to the larger Boeing 777 as well as some models of the Boeing 787. The A350 fuselage can accommodate 10 passengers per row in a high-density configuration. The A330 and previous iterations of the A350 would only be able to accommodate 8 passengers per row in normal configurations. The 787 can accommodate 8 or 9 passengers per row, while the 777 can accommodate 9 passengers per row (a few airlines seat 10 passengers abreast in some of their 777s). From the point of view of a seated passenger, the A350 cabin is 13 cm (5.1 in) wider at eye level than the competing 787, and 28 cm (11 in) narrower than the Boeing 777, its other competitor. (See wide-body aircraft for a comparison of …
