The first delivery of Airbus's next-generation Airbus A350-900, to Qatar Airways, is to take place on December 22, the European manufacturer announced on December 18. Airbus sent invitations for the formal handover ceremony in the south-western French city of Toulouse, where its headquarters is located. The A350, whose wings and fuselage are made of carbon fibre, is designed to save up to 25 percent in fuel consumption while serving long-range routes.
Airbus invested 10 billion to 12 billion euros ($12 billion-$14 billion) in a strategy to position the A350 between Boeing's popular 777 Jumbos and new, fuel-efficient 787 Dreamliner, hoping to eat away at both planes' markets. But development problems at Airbus pushed back forecast delivery dates of the A350-900 by about a year. Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said on December 17 a "small issue" had further delayed delivery of the airline's first A350, set for this week.
He did not elaborate, but said "this issue should be resolved very soon" and the aircraft was "already scheduled to do the first commercial flight on the 15th of January and this will be to Frankfurt". Qatar Airways has ordered 80 of the aircraft and plans to make them the workhorse of its fleet.
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