New training Center in Singapore with four A350 full flight simulators.

Construction of the new Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC) in Singapore is now underway, following the completion of initial ground-breaking works.

Source: Airbus

Due to open in the first quarter of 2016, the new facility will offer type rating and recurrent training courses for all in-production Airbus types.

The 9.250 m2 state-of-the-art facility, located at Seletar Aerospace Park, will be the 4th Airbus flight training centre in its global network, joining those in Toulouse, Miami and Beijing.

When fully operational, the Singapore centre will feature eight full flight simulators, including four A350 XWBs, one A380, one A330 and two A320s.

Source: Airbus

"AATC is a true win-win partnership for Singapore Airlines and Airbus," said Singapore Airlines' Senior Vice President Flight Operations, Captain Gerard Yeap.

Based on the press release “Construction of new Airbus Asia Training Centre underway”

TAMs first A350 final assembly progress towards delivery in 2015.

The first A350-900 for TAM Airlines is progressing well in the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse, with joining of the wings, the horizontal and vertical tail plane, the main landing gear and the tail cone to the fuselage.

TAM will be the first airline in the Americas to fly the A350 XWB and the 4th operator in the world overall.

Delivery of TAM’s first A350 XWB is scheduled for the end of this year.

TAM has a total of 27 A350 XWB on order.

All pictures. Source:Airbus

Based on the press release “TAM’s first A350 XWB takes shape”

A350 engineering team from Wichita to support manufacturing ramp-up in Europe´s sites.

Airbus Americas has decided to shift some engineering work on its A350 to Europe after a month-long evaluation of where it places its work.

Source: romain6082

“The Airbus Wichita team has been engaged on the A350 XWB since the earliest days of the program,” anAirbus Americas statement said.

“As the A350 program is now transitioning from a development program into a serial production program it is normal for the company to align the work with those locations that are best positioned to support the production ramp up.”

The company said that it has informed Wichita employees of the transfer of work but not exact numbers on how many jobs would be affected have been provided yet.

“As a result, we will be making minor adjustments to the size of our workforce”.

Source: romain6082

As of March the company had about 400 employees in Wichita. The Wichita office, which operates as Airbus Americas Engineering, does design and analysis work on the primary structures of all major Airbus aircraft, including fuselages and wings.

Based on the article “Airbus makes ‘minor adjustments’ to Wichita workforce” published in The Wichita Eagle

The A380 flying testbed MSN001 will be used for A350-1000´s Trent XWB-97 evaluation.

The 97,000-lb.-thrust engine due to fly after summer is the first of 2 units destined for initial evaluation flights on the Airbus A380 flying testbed MSN001, and will be used for evaluating engine operability, relights and handling.

Source: Airbus

Beyond engine- specific testing, Airbus also intends to use the XWB-97 on the A380 for integrated nacelle tests.

“It will do this to take credit for A350 certification and flights will run well into 2016, so it is not a short program,” said Simon Burr,  Rolls-Royce’s COO for Civil Large Engines.

Source: Rolls Royce

The first A350-1000 is due to fly in mid-2016 and is scheduled to enter service in 2017, 2 years after the Trent XWB-84-powered A350-900. 

Unlike the -84, which first flew on the A380 in February/2012, the higher- thrust engine Trent XWB-97 will not have undergone simulated altitude evaluation in a test cell before it takes to the air on the flying testbed.

Source: Airbus

“On the -84 we did altitude work in North America (at the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee), whereas on the -97 we are using the A380 for flight-test data at altitude,” said Burr.

“We’ve already proved the basics from the -84 and we can get useful data off that,” he added.

Based on the article “Rolls-Royce Building First XWB-97 For Flight Tests” published in Aviation Week.

Qatar announces the long haul work for A350s after a 1 year long introduction phase.

The first destinations of the A350 (Doha-Frankfurt and Doha-Singapore) are mid-range, with flying times of 6 to 8 hours.

Source: Jujug Spotting

These can be seen as introductory rotations, close to Qatar’s base should replacement aircraft or maintenance actions be needed.

With the 1st period in the bag, Qatar now feels confident enough to announce how they will take the A350 to its true job types; routes to New York´s JFK and Boston spring next year.

Source: Airbus

This announcement thereby means the honeymoon for A350 is over and it’s time for work.

The Doha-New York-JFK route is 6,000nm great circle distance which, when flying west means air distances of up to 7,000nm equivalent range due to persistent westerly winds.

Source: Airbus

This is close to the practical range of the Qatar’s A350. 

Both of the announced destinations are true long-haul rotations with flying times of 14 hours going from Doha to New York and 12 hours on the return leg.

The Boston destination is 20 minutes shorter in both directions.

This is then a good opportunity to look at what performance Qatar can expect from the A350, both in terms of additional revenue from cargo at different load factors and what fuel burn differences they will see compared to the Boeing 777-300ER that flies the New York rotation today.

Based on the article “Airbus A350 start stretching its wings” published in Leeham.

The A350 joins tribute to the A400M.

The A350 has flown today from Toulouse a few miles behind the A400M on its first flight since the deadly accident last Saturday.

Source: José A.Bejarano @joseabejarano

The MSN5 carrying employees and colleagues of 4 deceased has arrived minutes after the A400M from Toulouse to attend funerals that were held today in Seville.

Source: Víctor López @vlopez_jr

The A400M has been received with applauses by Airbus DS workers when it has landed.

Source: Víctor López @vlopez_jr

Qatar 4th A350 MSN10 airborne.

The MSN10 aircraft has completed today her First Flight, departing from Toulouse.

This 4th A350 for Qatar Airways will join in coming weeks the commercial route Doha - Singapore operated with another A350.

All pictures Source: A380_TLS_A350