Airbus Updates No.2827

 

British Airways Gears Up To Take Delivery Of Seventh Airbus A350

British Airways is gearing up to take delivery of its seventh Airbus A350 aircraft. As the next aircraft to be delivered, G-XWBG completed a customer acceptance flight from Toulouse yesterday.

British Airways is gearing up for the delivery of its seventh Airbus A350-1000. Photo: Tom Boon – Simple Flying

Yesterday Airbus revealed that it had delivered 38 passenger aircraft during August, while Boeing delivered four. Due to the current situation, many airlines have been seeking to delay outstanding aircraft deliveries. After all, why take an aircraft that they can’t use right away? Thankfully, British Airways has been putting its new widebody fleet to good use, with deliveries continuing despite the current situation.

Customer acceptance flight

An essential step in the delivery of any new aircraft is the customer acceptance flight. This is akin to test driving a car before buying it. The customer acceptance flight allows pilots of the intended delivery customer to see how the aircraft flies. This also gives them an option to have any apparent issues rectified before delivery.

The customer acceptance flight for G-XWBG, BA’s seventh A350, took place yesterday morning. Currently registered as F-WZGM, the aircraft took to the skies at 09:59, according to FlightRadar24.com. The plane climbed to 41,000 feet in several steps. The aircraft then took a tour above France, passing over Bordeaux and Poitiers.

G-XWBG’s customer acceptance flight took over two hours. Image: FlightRadar24.com

Following an hour-long cruise, the aircraft descended in several steps while making a wide loop of Toulouse. After a circuit of the airfield, the A350-1000 touched back down in Toulouse at 12:21, two hours, and 21 minutes after departure.

British Airways’ seventh Airbus A350 delivery

Despite the first aircraft being delivered just over a year ago, the British Airways A350 fleet is growing nicely. The airline has a total of 18 A350-1000 on order. With the delivery of the seventh imminent, the airline will have received almost two-fifths of its planned deliveries. According to data from AIB Family, aircraft were delivered as follows:

• G-XWBA – July 27th, 2019
• G-XWBB – September 19th, 2019
• G-XWBC – November 26th, 2019
• G-XWBD – December 23rd, 2019
• G-XWBE – February 12th, 2020
• G-XWBF – May 20th, 2020
• G-XWBG – Delivery imminent
• G-XWBH – Fuselage assembled

Put straight to work

Many airlines have been delaying aircraft deliveries due to the current situation. Take ANA, for example. Except for the odd ‘flight to nowhere,’ the airline’s existing A380s have lied dormant since late March. If the existing fleet is not flying, why add to it?

British Airways has been putting its new aircraft straight to fair use. Photo: Tom Boon – Simple Flying

British Airways, on the other hand, has been putting its aircraft straight to use. Let us take a look at the three most recent deliveries. G-ZBLA and G-ZBLB were the first two Boeing 787-10s delivered to British Airways earlier this summer. While the aircraft haven’t been carrying passengers, they have already been hard at work shuttling cargo between Dallas and Seattle, and London.

Meanwhile, G-XWBF, the last A350 to be delivered, has been operating cargo flights across the British Airways A350 network. As IAG Cargo doesn’t have its own planes, British Airways aircraft have been used to keep cargo routes open.

Airbus Updates No.2462

British Airways' brand new Airbus A350-1000 gets damaged second time in two months

Tel Aviv, Israel - A British Airways Airbus A350-1000 with registration G-XWBD made a hard landing at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport.

The aircraft taxied to the gate without further incident, but the return flight was canceled. The incident happened on Jan.19 during landing at the Ben Gurion Airport after a four-hour flight from London.

According to a passenger, the ceiling panels in the cabin came down in the aft galley due to the severe touchdown. Ground checks also revealed damage to the aircraft.

This is the second incident that the one-month-old aircraft was involved in.

Before its delivery to the British flag carrier in December 2019, the aircraft was damaged at the Airbus' Toulouse facility by scaffolding equipment that hit the aircraft in the paint hangar, where it was parked.

Also read: British Airways Airbus A350-1000 was damaged during painting

It's the fourth A350-1000 delivered to the IAG subsidiary airline so far. The carrier has 14 more copies in the same order package waiting to be delivered over time.

British Airways' A350-1000s are serving on the operator's long-haul routes from London to Toronto, Dubai, Tel Aviv, and Bangalore.

Airbus Updates No.2411

Airbus A321	-211	1238		G-DHJH	Flashdell Ltd	ferried 19dec19 QLA-HER-SHJ, for P2F-conversion at XSP	ex D-AVZL
Airbus A321	-211	6526		VN-A532	VietJet Air	delivery 24-25dec19 ZAG-AZI-SGN	ex OE-IKL
Airbus A321	-211	7003		F-WTBH	Sky High V Co	ferried 23dec19 MST-KUN after paint into VietJet Air cs	ex G-TCDM
Airbus A321	-253N	8085		TC-OEE	Holiday Europe	in svc 20-21dec19 ISL-BSL-DWC-NUE-AYT after paint	ex TF-DTR
Airbus A321	-211	9027		N391DN	Delta Air Lines	delivery 20dec19 BFM-MSP	ex F-WZMA
Airbus A321	-271NX	9095		TC-LSO	Turkish Airlines	delivery 24dec19 XFW-IST	ex D-AVXD
Airbus A321	-251NX	9162		G-NEOX	British Airways	delivery 23dec19 XFW-LHR	ex D-AZAS
Airbus A330	-343	1401		9H-TAJ	HiFly Malta	ferried 24dec19 LPBJ-CHR for paint, c/n tbc	ex 9V-STU
Airbus A340	-313	242		PZ-TCR	Surinam Airways	ferried 19dec19 AMS-CQM , for partout &scrap	ex F-WJKN
Airbus A350	-1041	356		A7-ANN	Qatar Airways	delivery 20dec19 TLS-DOH	ex F-WZNQ
Airbus A350	-1041	374		G-XWBD	British Airways	delivery 23dec19 TLS-LHR	ex F-WZNR
Airbus Canada A220	-371	55004		YL-CSB	AirBaltic	ferried 22dec19 BTS-RIX after paint into new cs	ex C-FOWV
Airbus Canada A220	-371	55067		C-GROV	Air Canada	delivery 23dec19 YMX-YOW-YYZ
Airbus Canada A220	-371	55068		SU-GFC	EgyptAir Express	delivery 21-22dec19 YMX-OST-CAI	ex C-FOWU
Airbus Canada A220	-371	55071		YL-AAV	AirBaltic	delivery 23dec19 YMX-RIX	ex C-FOVG

Airbus Updates No.2355

A British Airways Airbus A350-1000 was damaged during painting

Toulouse, France - An Airbus A350 intended for the IAG flag carrier British Airways was reportedly damaged at the paint shop.

According to aviation and travel blog Sam Chui, The European aircraft manufacturer has confirmed the incident after a set of rumors and is now repairing the aircraft.

Airbus is reluctant to disclose how the incident happened or how severe is the damage, but rumors suggest that scaffolding equipment used during the painting job hit the aircraft's airframe.

The A350-1000 of the British carrier was already set delivery for next month.

British Airways has so far taken delivery of two A350-1000 out of 18 on order with the European planemaker.

The third aircraft already rolled out the paint shop. The damaged jet is the fourth copy with registration G-XWBD.

The existing A350-1000s are serving on the airline's long-haul routes London - Toronto, and London - Dubai. British Airways will add Tel Aviv and Bangalore to its A350-1000 routes during the winter season.