Lufthansa received its first Airbus A350 shortly before Christmas. The aircraft is part of an order of 25 long range jets of the 900 variant, with 293 seats in a three-class cabin layout – 21 seats in First Class, 48 in Business and 224 in Economy. They will gradually replace another Airbus model, the A340-600.
Lufthansa’s A350 fleet will be based in Munich, second company’s hub in Germany and are expected to fly initially to Boston and New Delhi, in India.
The Lufthansa A350-900 is equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. With advanced construction technology, the twin-engine widebody is 25 per cent more efficient with reduction in fuel burn and emissions, significantly lower maintenance costs and offering superior passenger comfort. According to Airbus, the A350 XWB accumulated 810 firm orders until December 2016 from 43 airlines worldwide.
Technical data
| Engine | RR Trent XWB-84 |
| Length | 65.26 m |
| Wingspan | 64.75 m |
| Height | 17.05 m |
| Wing area | 443 m2 |
| Max. takeoff weight | 268 tons |
| Engine performance | 2 x 84,000 lbs |
| Tank capacity | 138,000 l |
| Cruising speed | 0.85 Mach |
| Cruising range* | approx. 9,500 km |
| Fuel consumption | approx. 2.9 l/100 pax kilometres |
| * at max. useful load | |
