New Aircraft Marks Historic Milestone for Aviation – Qatar Airways first commercial A 350 flight lands in Frankfurt

January 19, 2015
1:48 pm

Global launch customer Qatar Airways’ inaugural A350 XWB flight was ceremoniously welcomedÂ at Frankfurt Airport. The first flight officially marked the start of the A350 XWB service between Frankfurt and Doha, with the new aircraft’s modern equipment and innovative technology delivering an unparalleled travel experience for passengers.

Qatar Airways first Airbus A 350 XWB in Frankfurt (QA)

The five-star airline and world’s first commercial A350 XWB flight was greeted with great excitement by gathered VIPs and media as Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker and Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer, together with numerous other guests of honour, were all formally welcomed by members of the Fraport Executive Board and representatives of Qatar Airways Europe.

– This is a very important milestone for Qatar Airways, and our first commercial A350 flight was filled with passengers enjoying the inaugural and exclusive travel experience that this tremendous new aircraft has to offer. The A350 XWB truly changes the travel experience and we are particularly pleased to put it on our route to Frankfurt; an important destination that we started servicing in 2002,” said His Excellency Mr. Al Baker.

Fabrice Brégier (to left) and Akbar Al Baker (QA)

– At Airbus, we have been working towards this first commercial flight of the A350 XWB for nearly a decade. It filled me with great pride and satisfaction to see the first passengers enjoy the comfort and quietness of the aircraft in flight. The A350 XWB delivers a 25 percent improvement in fuel efficiency to its operators — and being the world’s quietest twin-engine widebody aircraft, it will truly be a good neighbour at every airport,” said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO.

– The inauguration of the world’s first A350 XWB route from Doha to Frankfurt marks another milestone in aviation, which Frankfurt Airport is proud to share. We congratulate Qatar Airways, Airbus and Rolls-Royce on this magnificent airplane and this memorable day. We will all benefit from the latest technology that is being implemented with this advanced aircraft type: passengers, airlines as well as airports and their surrounding regions. The significant reduction in noise emissions achieved by the A350 will help contribute to quieter flying at Frankfurt,” said Fraport AG Executive Board Member for Operations (COO), Anke Giesen.

Qatar Airways’ first A350 XWB is now officially operating one of the two daily services to Frankfurt, the airline’s first destination for this aircraft on its network of 146 destinations. Speaking at the press conference, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, announced that the airline’s second A350 XWB, which will join the fleet in February, will also commence operations on the Frankfurt route beginning 1st March, 2015.

Marking the A350 XWB milestone at the press conference, the speakers — His Excellency Mr. Al Baker, Mr. Fabrice Brégier and Mr. Michael Müller, Member of the Executive Board and Executive Director of Labour Relations of Fraport — highlighted the state-of-the-art aircraft’s advanced features and various innovations. Also discussed was the A350 XWB’s significance for the aviation industry and the advantages it brings to the Frankfurt region.

From left: Fabrice Brégier, Akbar Al Baker and Michael Müller (QA)

Frankfurt is a key German economic centre and one of the most important air traffic hubs in Europe, and Qatar Airways A350 XWB’s significant capacity will amply provide for the comfort of the route’s business and leisure travellers.

The A350 XWB will comprise a two class configuration with 36 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, featuring an 80″ fully flat bed and 17″ HD in-flight entertainment screen. Economy Class will comprise of 247 seats at 18-inches wide in a 3-3-3 configuration, with up to a 32-inch pitch. Each individual seat will feature a 10.6″ in-flight entertainment screen, and more space at shoulder level for passengers in window seats, thanks to a vertical side wall panel design.

Over 70 percent of the A350 XWB’s weight-efficient airframe is made from advanced materials combining composites (53 percent), titanium and advanced aluminium alloys. The aircraft’s innovative all-new Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) fuselage results in lower fuel burn as well as easier maintenance.

Qatar Airways is the only airline in the world to operate every family of Airbus’ modern airline portfolio. In addition to the 80 A350s it has on order, the airline has a current Airbus fleet comprising of the A320, A330 Freighter, A319LR, A321, A330, A340 and A380 families.

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 18 years of operation, to the point where today it is flying a modern fleet of 146 aircraft to 146 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

Daily Flight plan Doha — Frankfurt with A350 from 15th January 2015: