The first Airbus A350 passenger jet delivered to launch customer Qatar Airways is undergoing its first maintenance check, at airline...
The first Airbus A350 passenger jet delivered to launch customer Qatar Airways is undergoing its first maintenance check, at airline's hangar in Doha.
The A350-900 was delivered to Qatar in December 2014, and commenced commercial flight operations in January 2015.
The aircraft (A7-ALA), is the longest flown A350 in operation and is undergoing its first 3 year C-Check maintenance.
Airbus is targeting a 10 percent reduction in direct maintenance costs of A350, compared to rival Boeing 787-9 and up to 40 percent compared to the Boeing 777-200ER.
The twin-engine A350-900 has demonstrated an exceptional entry-to-service, evidenced by the fleet-wide dispatch reliability rate above 99.2% – which exceeds the level of reliability targeted by Airbus for this point in time.
The jetliner also is delivering on its promises to reduce take-off and cabin noise and cut fuel burn by 25% compared to previous-generation widebody airliners.
With the fuselage largely made of corrosion and fatigue free Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (53 %) and Titanium (14 %), the six year heavy checks have been split into different base checks at an interval of 36 months, with a short grounding time of around four to five days.
Being designed as a maintenance friendly aircraft, the A350 will require 20 fewer A checks compared to present generation aircraft over a 12 year period, with an average utilization of 4,700 flight hours per year.
The heavy D check—have been extended to at least 12 years, which also includes the first landing gear overhaul.
At the beginning of 2018, a total of 142 A350-900s had been delivered to a constantly growing customer base that already includes 17 airlines: Air Caraïbes, Air Mauritius, Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Ethiopian Airlines, Finnair, French Blue, Hong Kong Airlines, LATAM, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International (THAI) and Vietnam Airlines.
