More details about the first –virtual- flight in the A350 “cabin 0”. US Airways pilot with 8 Cathay Pacific cabin crew to flight from Tenerife to Hamburg.

Last 25/July in 'cabin 0', part of the cabin integration test centre in Finkenwerder, some Airbus employees joined a “flight” from Tenerife to Hamburg, where the crew from Cathay Pacific provided realistic and impressive cabin service, serving Caesar salad and chicken with pepper sauce from the integrated galleys.

The objective of the test was to ensure system maturity at EIS -entry into service, verifying operability and analyzing the consequences of passenger and crew behavior under conditions which are as close as possible to a reality. For that reason, for example, the US Airways pilot repeatedly asked passengers to fasten their seat belts because of the risk of turbulence.

Every passenger received a 'job card' for testing the systems which ensured that the long flight never became tedious. When the captain announced the landing, sound effects, including thrust reversal, completed the illusion and brought a round of applause.

This verification and validation platform allows AIRBUS to test technical and ergonomic features of the interior furnishings before the aircraft is ready, giving an enormous advantage in terms of time and knowledge.

The 5-hour session in cabin 0 was the first time that a representative section of the A350 XWB fuselage fitted with real cabin systems has been used in this way.