Airbus A350XWB, A380 and A330. Photo: courtesy Airbus.
Airbus’ next-generation A350XWB joined the A330 and A380 in the sky as the company’s modern widebody family flew together for the first time from Toulouse, France on September 19, 2013, before continuing on separate flight test missions.
Across all its aircraft families, both widebody and single-aisle, Airbus’ design approach ensures that the aircraft share the highest commonality in airframes, on-board systems, cockpits and handling characteristics. This significantly reduces operating costs for airlines as pilot, crew and maintenance training times are shorter. Crew management is also more flexible for airlines as they can move pilots and crews easily from one Airbus aircraft to the other.
