Vietnam Airlines receives first Airbus A350 XWB

(VNF) - The first ever Airbus A350 XWB airplane was delivered to the Vietnam National Flag Carrier Vietnam Airlines in Toulouse (France) on June 30th.

Vietnam Airlines becomes the first Asian airline to fly the A350 XWB and only the second operator in the world. The domestic route between Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh city will use this aircraft at first and then the carrier will operate its A350-XWB fleet on premium long haul routes, beginning with services between Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh city-Paris, and Hanoi-Seoul this October.

Trinh Ngoc Thanh, Vice General Director of Vietnam Airlines in charge of Commercial Affairs hoped that this new and advanced technology aircraft would satisfy passenger’s demand during their flight.

The Airbus A350 XWB’s are a family of long-range, twin-engine wide-body jet airliners developed by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. It is the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer. Its variants seat between 280 to 366 passengers in typical three-class seating layouts.

It was originally conceived in 2004, pairing the A330's fuselage with new aerodynamics features and engines. In 2006, Airbus redesigned the aircraft in response to criticism from several major prospective customers, renamed it the A350 XWB (extra wide body). Airbus had received orders for 780 aircraft from 40 customers around the globe as of January 2015./.

( VNF )