Aircraft
Airbus A350XWB Begins Flight Test Phase
Airbus’s A350 XWB touches down on the Toulouse runway after its initial test flight last Friday. The Roll-Royce Trent-powered airliner flew for about four hours on its maiden journey. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov)
Airbus’s A350 XWB touches down on the Toulouse runway after its initial test flight last Friday. The Roll-Royce Trent-powered airliner flew for about four hours on its maiden journey. (Photo: Vladimir Karnozov)

Airbus began the 2,500-hour flight-test program for its new A350 XWB when the new long-range widebody took off for the first time at almost exactly 10:00 a.m. local time in Toulouse, France on Friday. The eagerly awaited first flight over southwestern France lasted slightly more than four hours and the twinjet, powered by Rolls-Royce’s Trent XWB engines, safely touched down back in Toulouse at 2:05 p.m.