Airbus Updates No.4589

Philippine Airlines takes delivery of 1st Airbus A350-1000

On 19 December 2025, Philippine Airlines took delivery of a nice Christmas-present, it's very first A350-1000. The aircraft, RP-C3510 (758) was handed-over during a special ceremony and departed for Manila later in the evening.

Philippine Airlines has ordered a total of nine A350-1000s in May 2023, and will use them to replace its fleet of Boeing B777-300ERs.

The newly delivered Airbus joins a fleet that is made-up of sixteen A320s, 22 A321s, eight A321neos, eleven A330-300s, two A350-900s, ten B777-300ERs, and eleven DHC-8-400s.

Next year, the airline is also said to be making a decision on a new widebody-order to replace its A330s.

Photo by Philippine Airlines.

Airbus Updates No.4498

 

Philippine Airlines to take first A350-1000s in late 2025

Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino International) is due to take delivery of the first of nine A350-1000s in late 2025, according to Lucio Tan, chairman of PAL Holdings Inc, the carrier's controlling entity.

Speaking at a May 30, 2025, shareholders meeting in Manila, Tan said the aircraft would first be used to increase services to North America. He added that the first of thirteen A321-200Ns are due in 2026.

"Philippine Airlines is preparing for a significant fleet update with the planned delivery of nine A350-1000 long-range aircraft and thirteen A321neo regional jets over the next few years," he said. "PAL is likewise moving forward with a comprehensive retrofit programme for its existing A321-200 fleet."

Shareholders were told that Philippine Airlines had spent PHP20.26 billion pesos (USD363 million) on A350-1000 pre-delivery payments and PHP16.54 billion (USD297 million) on pre-delivery payments for the Airbus narrowbodies. The carrier will use these aircraft to expand its nonstop route network, and the carrier also wants to develop more partnerships with other airlines.

Tan noted that Philippine Airlines had just recorded its 14th consecutive quarterly profit, posting a PHP4.33 billion (USD77.6 million) profit in the first quarter of 2025, up around 20% on the comparable 2024 quarter.

"Philippine Airlines delivered solid financial results, expanded its network, and maintained high standards of operational reliability amid global challenges that have continued to impact the airline industry," the chairman said. "As we look ahead, all of us need to remain mindful of the challenges that we continue to face. Staying competitive will require us to manage our costs carefully and adapt to ever-changing circumstances."

Separately, last week's meeting also formalised the appointment of former SriLankan Airlines CEO Richard Nuttall as Philippine Airlines' new president and Carlos Luis Fernandez as executive vice president and COO.

Airbus Updates No.4389

 

Ethiopian Airlines takes delivery of first A350-1000

Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) has taken delivery of its first A350-1000, one of four ordered by the airline, and the first of the type to be operated by an African carrier. ET-BAW (msn 691) was handed over to the airline on November 4 at Toulouse Blagnac, the airline said. It was ferried to Addis Ababa International the following day, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

ET-BAW is equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines - the only option for the A350 family - and is configured with 46 business class seats and 349 economy. A second -1000 is due to be delivered in December, followed by the remaining two by late first quarter 2025.

The first unit will be used on promotional flights to eight destinations until the second aircraft arrives, after which both will be dedicated to serving its Washington Dulles route, Ethiopian Aviation Holding Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said at the handover ceremony. The A350-1000 will enable the airline "to enhance its premium service on key destinations" including Washington D.C., London Heathrow, Paris CDG, and Frankfurt International, Airbus said. Tasew added that the larger aircraft would be particularly useful on the slot-constrained Heathrow route.

Ethiopian Airlines' widebody fleet comprises twenty A350-900s (with another 11 still to be delivered), six B777-200LRs, four B777-300ERs, nineteen B787-8s, ten B787-9s, and ten B777-200Fs (with another two to be delivered). Along with the additional A350-900s, eleven B787-9s and eight B777-9s are still to be delivered.

Airbus Updates No.4177

Japan Airlines takes delivery of 1st Airbus A350-1000

With a special ceremony at Toulouse-Blagnac, Japan Airlines took delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 on 14 December 2023. After the ceremony, the aircraft, JA01WJ (610), flew directly to the airline's base at Tokyo-Haneda.

The new Airbus is the first of thirteen A350-1000s the airline has on order. It already operates a fleet of sixteen A350-900s (with two more on order) since 2019. While the 900s are being used domestically only, the 1000s will be the airline's new international flagships.

Japan Airlines is outfitting its A350-1000s with six seats in First Class, 54 in Business Class, 24 Premium Economy, and 155 Economy seats. The first route it will serve is to New York-JFK (NY).

Airbus Updates No.3858

 

Virgin Atlantic Takes Delivery Of Its 9th Airbus A350-1000

UK airline Virgin Atlantic took delivery of its 9th Airbus A350-1000 this past week. The delivery took place on April 27th, with the airline now having an all-widebody fleet of 37 aircraft. The name of this aircraft, ‘Lady Emmeline’, was announced on March 8th to celebrate International Women's Day.

Delivery details

Taking place on Wednesday, April 27th, Airbus delivered the A350-1000 registered G-VLIB to Virgin Atlantic. Data from FlightRadar24.com shows that the aircraft with MSN 507 departed Toulouse at 12:36 local time and made the 93-minute flight to London Heathrow, touching down at 13:05 local.

Prior to the aircraft’s delivery, it had accumulated a total of nine test flight hours (eight hours and 54 minutes to be precise) across four flights. The aircraft was first spotted in Toulouse without its engines back on December 16th, 2021.

G-VLIB’s special name and story

Having a strong history of naming its aircraft with feminine names and nicknames such as "Tinker Belle," "Cosmic Girl," and "Beauty Queen," Virgin Atlantic continues this tradition with a slight twist.

Indeed, while the story of this new A350-1000 has just begun, the person it’s been named after has already made it into the history books. The aircraft has been given the nickname Lady Emmeline, which Virgin Atlantic describes as an "homage to the founder of the Suffragette movement and women’s rights activist, Emmeline Pankhurst."

The airline adds that Pankhurst was the leader of the Women’s Social and Political Union, and was instrumental in securing the right to vote for women in the UK at the turn of the last century.

"In tribute to its feminist namesake, all charitable donations received onboard Lady Emmeline will be distributed to a selection of women’s charities when the plane starts flights next year." -Virgin Atlantic

As the airline explains in a recent blog, the International Women's Day announcement was meant to celebrate women in aviation. Estelle Hollingsworth, chief people officer at Virgin Atlantic went on to say that it was focused on "being a fair, diverse, and inclusive employer that attracts the best talent, regardless of gender.”

Five more A350 deliveries remain for Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic initially placed its order for 12 A350-1000s back in 2016. At the time of the announcement, Craig Kreeger, CEO Virgin Atlantic said:

"The size of this order demonstrates our absolute focus on investing in the future for our customers and our people, and confirms the strength of our business. The A350-1000 plays a pivotal role in our fleet programme, helping to create one of the youngest, cleanest, greenest fleets in the sky."

The airline took delivery of its first back in August 2019, taking an additional three during the remainder of 2019 and another three over the course of 2020. Just one was delivered to Virgin Atlantic in 2021.

In mid-December of 2021, it was announced that the carrier would be adding two additional A350-1000s to its fleet via a lease agreement with Air Lease Corporation (ALC). This brings the airline's total A350 commitment to 14 aircraft.

Airbus Updates No.2375

France's Air Caraibes Atlantique takes first A350-1000

Airbus A350-1000 © Airbus

05.12.2019 - 06:27 UTC

Air Caraibes Atlantique (CAJ, Paris Orly) has taken delivery of its first A350-1000, Skyliner Aviation has reported.

F-HMIL (msn 482) was ferried from Toulouse Blagnac to Bordeaux on December 2, 2019, ahead of its entry into service for the French Caribbean specialist. It is the first of three A350-1000s ordered by parent company Air Caraibes (TX, Pointe à Pitre), with a second unit due to be delivered shortly.

A unit of Groupe Dubreuil, Air Caraibes is planning to debut the A350-1000 on December 20, 2019, deploying it initially from Paris Orly to Fort de France. The day after, the aircraft will operate from Orly to Pointe à Pitre, the ch-aviation schedules module shows.

Air Caraibes Atlantique already operates three A350-900s, two A330-200s, and four A330-300s. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, Air Caraibes operates two ATR72-500s and two -600s. It is planning to retire one -500 by the end of 2019 and replace it with a third -600. The full roll-over from -500s to -600s is planned for 2020.

Airbus Updates No.1860

Cathay Pacific adds maiden A350-1000

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-1000© Cathay Pacific

20JUN2018

Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong Int'l) has taken delivery of its first A350-1000 following the handing over of B-LXA (msn 118) at a ceremony on Tuesday, June 19.

The Hong Kong-based carrier said in a statement marking the event that for the purposes of crew training, the twinjet would initially be deployed on regional Asian services starting with Taipei Taoyuanon July 1. Thereafter, it will make its intercontinental debut on September 15 with a non-stop flight to Washington Dulles.

Cathay Pacific has twenty of the type on firm order from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) of which eight are expected this year, four next year, with the remainder due from 2020 and beyond. It is also an existing operator of the A350-900 of which it has twenty-two in service at present.