On Monday I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Airbus Delivery Center in Toulouse, France. The occasion was to celebrate the delivery of the first Airbus A350 to Qatar Airways, which is the plane’s launch customer. There were about 150 media people invited from all over the world. They really went over the top…
Continue reading: Review Of Qatar Airways Airbus A350 Delivery Ceremony
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
With regards to the size of the plane, the A350-900 is more like the 787-10/777-200, and not the 787-9. Furthermore, the A350-1000 is part of many Airlines, including United's, plans to replace the 747-400, so it is closer in size to the 777-9x.
Am I mistaken or are there 9 pitot probes around the nose?
After Air France 447 are they being extra super careful?
I know you are not much of an economy flier but the 9 abreast configuration on the a350 should be much more comfortable than the equivalent 9 abreast on the 787. The reson being much wider seats. It really does make a difference, you may recall that the 787 was originally designed with a 2-4-2 configuration in economy. Airbus cunningly makes the cabin width such that adding an extra seat is pretty unattractive, (although t can be done cf. AirAsiaX's a330).
Also in direct comparison I find that the stock Airbus a330 seat is much softer than the equivalent 787 seat.
Flying economy long haul I would always pick an Airbus over a Boeing for this reason. That said my new contract specifies business class for long haul so I might not be needing to make that choice.
Also, 10 vs 9 relates to the seat width. Something has to give when they squeeze an extra seat in a 777 rów.
"His Excellency said they planned to fly the A350 basically everywhere, given that they have 80 of them on order. In the US, the immediate plans seem to be to fly them to the “eastern seaboard.”
I think the most logical destinations on the east coast not served by Qatar already are:
-BOSTON, because it's Boston and BOS seems to be getting a lot of love recently
-CHARLOTTE, massive oneworld hub, granted little O&D to Doha but Philadelphia has little O&D as well. Many connecting passengers could do NC (CLT)-DOH- India Subcontinent, where there is many O&D passengers from Charlotte and NC.
-ATLANTA, massive city, could compete with Delta's ATL-DXB service
You've obviously lost your touch on informative articles as the a350 is NOT a direct competitor to the 787. Stick to tumblr gifs, pictures of pretty things and trips with your dad.
Jody,
To quote Saturday Night Live - "You ignorant...."
“The 787-10 didn’t exist when we signed for the A350. Now it does,” says Clark. “So we will launch a campaign that will look at both the 787-9/10 and the A350-900/1000. And we’ll see who comes up with the best deal, not just at the front-end price but also the operating economics. And then we’ll decide how many and when.”
Jody,
The CEO of Emirates disagrees with you.
“The 787-10 didn’t exist when we signed for the A350. Now it does,” says Clark. “So we will launch a campaign that will look at both the 787-9/10 and the A350-900/1000. And we’ll see who comes up with the best deal, not just at the front-end price but also the operating economics. And then we’ll decide how many and when.”
Care to comment?
Was invited to QRs ORD launch gala at the Field Museum in Chicago. There was a cocktail reception around the T-rex with splashes of the destinations served by QR between the arcs of the museums high walls all while a violinist sawed away. Then, dinner was announced with "Ladies and Gentlemen, please join us in the forward cabin for first class dining and entertainment". Several investment bankers and capital venturists (who I assume frequent these all time) said Qatar, "went all out" for the gala.
Then came the entertainment.. Chicago orchestra and Jennifer Hudson.
@ Robert -- Well that, or they could just replace a 777 on an existing route with an A350. I didn't necessarily interpret him saying that as suggesting they would add new destinations in the US in the short term (though I'm sure it's inevitable).
@ Ed -- Totally agree. To clarify, not sure I get how nine across on the A350 is more comfortable than 10 across on the A380, for example.
@ Good service -- I thought it was roughly comparable in terms of noise level.
Not to be 'that guy' because I can't remember saying something like this at all in recent memory, but I have to ask: As a gay guy myself, what would His Excellency say to you identifying as a gay man? I can't find myself fawning over someone like that personally, especially someone from this era.
@Lucky - thanks. I was hoping for a quieter plane, like the A380. Although still a huge improvement from the 777!
@ Ben -- Not that I disagree, but out of curiosity, have you been to the Middle East? There's a HUGE disparity between "traditional" teachings and the reality of everyday life in some of the more progressive parts of the Middle East.
My orientation has nothing to do with my fanboying over His Excellency...
I still can't stand the black trim around the cockpit windows... It just looks odd. The 787 looks way better in my opinion! The 787 is more revolutionary too, being composed of far more carbon fiber than the A350.
On another noted I find it odd/interesting that Airbuschose to include Hawaiian as a A350 customer. It was a while ago that Airbus cancelled the -800 version they ordered. Not to mention Hawaiian already converted their order to the A330neo 800
Can I just ask a quick question, is Lucky gay? I am just asking out of curiosity.
@Lucky - I have not been to the middle east yet, the closest I have come from a cultural perspective would be Morocco. Even as a 'liberal' Islamic country, I felt fairly uncomfortable there (although I did love the country outside of that).
Having spent the first 18 years of my life in the closet in a modern, progressive household (I'm 28 now), thinking about experiencing closeted life again, this time threatened with prison, makes me put the Middle East fairly low on my list of places to see.
Happy xmas Lucky - great to see a post with a selfie of you in it.
I hate to sound shallow but I think you're really cute.
Jez x
Good airplan a350 but my top liked aircraft is b747400 b747_8 intercontinental i wish qatar order b747_8 super jumbo