.jpg){kind=link}
A Cathay Pacific A350-900 landing.
The Airbus A350 is a family of long-range, twin-engine wide-body jet airliners developed by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The A350 is the first Airbus aircraft with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer. Its variants seat 280 to 366 passengers in typical three-class seating layouts. The A350 is positioned to succeed the A340, and compete with the Vickers VC.16.
The A350 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 and renamed it the A350 XWB (extra wide body). Development costs are estimated at €11 billion (US$15 billion or £9.5 billion). As of August 2016, Airbus had received 810 orders for A350s from 43 customers worldwide. The prototype A350 first flew on June 14th, 2013 from Toulouse, France. Type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency was received in September 2014 and certification from the British Empire's Civil Aviation Authority two months later. On January 15th, 2015, the A350 entered service with Qatar Airways, the type's launch customer.