Date named for Qatar Airways debut of A350XWB

Qatar Airways will receive the first Airbus A350 XWB in Toulouse on December 13th. This will be the first of 80 of the mid-sized wide-body airliners ordered by the Doha-based airline.
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The first commercial service will be deployed on the Frankfurt route from January 2015.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker, said: “The delivery of our first A350 XWB aircraft, as global launch customer, is a highly anticipated event in the relatively young history of Qatar Airways and the second significant fleet milestone for our airline, having recently taken delivery of our A380 aircraft.
“Qatar Airways is committed to offering our passengers the very best five-star experience when it comes to travelling, not only in terms of the custom-built comfort features across all of our cabins and the service on board, but with the investment and expansion of our modern fleet. The arrival of this new generation of aircraft type represents a moment of great symbolic national pride for the State of Qatar, and I know its delivery will be met with excitement at its new home Hamad International Airport, which was built for advanced aircraft types such as this.”
More than 70% of the A350 XWB’s weight-efficient airframe is made from advanced materials combining composites (53 percent), titanium and advanced aluminium alloys. The aircraft’s innovative all-new Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) fuselage results in lower fuel burn as well as easier maintenance.

It has been designed to enhance fuel, operating costs and environmental efficiencies during medium-to-long haul airline operations and features the very latest in aerodynamics, design and advanced technologies.