An Airbus A350 XWB test aircraft will make its China debut touring the cities of Haikou (HAK), Beijing (PEK), Shanghai (SHA), Guangzhou (CAN) and Chengdu (CTU), from October 29 to November 8. The eleven-day trip also includes static and flight displays at the Zhuhai Airshow. 

Featuring the distinctive “Carbon Fibre” signature livery first unveiled in 2014, the aircraft (MSN2) is one of Airbus’ fleet of five A350-900 test aircraft and one of two with a fully functional cabin configuration (42 business class and 210 economy class seats). The flights will be operated by an Airbus flight-test crew.

The A350 XWB has been ordered by several Chinese customers. China Eastern Airlines ordered 20 A350-900 aircraft in April 2016. Air China ordered 10 A350-900s with its first delivery scheduled in 2017. In September, Sichuan Airlines signed a Letter of Intent for leasing four A350-900s.

China’s aviation industry has made important contributions to the development and manufacture of the A350 XWB. Some five percent of the airframe is manufactured in China.  The A350 XWB is a symbol of strategic industrial cooperation between Airbus and China’s aviation industry.

To date, Airbus has received 810 firm orders for the A350 XWB from 43 customers worldwide. As of the end of September, a total of 41 A350 XWBs were in service with nine customers.