The first Qatar Airways´ A350 has visited this weekend London Heathrow airport, with a special access visit and demonstration flight for some guests on Monday 12/Jan/2015.
Local council representatives, media, and other guests were all in attendance at Heathrow on Monday as guests were treated to a first-hand demonstration of the Qatar A350 XWB through a 2-hour flight around the UK.
Developments and improvements on functionalities on the A350 XWB will allow it to operate up to 16 decibels below the regulatory standards for aircraft of its kind, as well as reducing its carbon emissions.
To test the A350’s noise mitigation features, Qatar Airways’ crew have worked with Heathrow to carry out a series of proving flights at the airport over the past weekend, the first of a series to be undertaken as part of a long-term partnership.
There is a national consultation concerning the expansion of the airport and these tests are used by Heathrow to ask for the support to that expansion;
“New, quieter aircraft such as the A350 will help to ensure fewer local residents are affected by noise from Heathrow. Given the popular and competitive nature of Heathrow’s routes, airlines tend to use their newest and quietest aircraft at the airport. In fact, Heathrow’s fleet mix is made up of over 18% more Chapter 4 aircraft, the quietest and newest aircraft, than the global fleet average.”
Matt Gorman, Heathrow’s Sustainability Director said, “Heathrow is proud to count on airline partners like Qatar to use the quietest and most modern aircraft on our routes. We are committed to phasing-out the noisiest and oldest aircraft in the short-term, and ensuring that new aircraft like A350 are taken up by all our airline partners in the long-term, to benefit local residents.”
The A350 XWB exceeds Airbus´ targets on noise emissions far below the ICAO requirement in order to deliver quieter take-offs and landings at airports like Heathrow. Rolls-Royce has focused the Trent XWB development on ensuring “the best possible environmental performance to support Airbus A350 XWB operations.”
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