The A350 XWB arrives in Santiago for the first time ever

The world’s newest, most modern and efficient aircraft, the Airbus A350 XWB, made its Chilean and South American debut this morning, arriving at the FIDAE fairgrounds located in the Santiago Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport.
The aircraft, MSN 005, is one of five A350 XWB prototypes used to perform comprehensive flight test and development trials. The aircraft flew to Santiago as part of its “Route Proving” mission required for Type Certification, which is expected in September this year. This exercise will include the aircraft flying a representative airline schedule, demonstrating its maturity for airline operations. The aircraft will be operated by Airbus flight crews.
Previously, the aircraft visited Johannesburg, South Africa, Sidney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand. The A350 XWB departed for Sao Paulo, Brazil, today on Wednesday, 6th August.
The A350’s World Tour began on July 24th and involves a series of tests on four different trips. At the end of the tour on August 13th, the aircraft will have visited 14 airports around the world.

The A350 XWB is an all new family of mid-sized wide-body airliners to shape the efficiency of medium-to-long haul airline operations, overcoming the challenges of volatile fuel prices, matching rising passenger expectations and addressing increasing environmental concerns.

The A350 XWB Family consists of three passenger versions with true long-range capability of flying up to 8,500nm/15,580km. In a typical two-class configuration, the A350-800 will offer 276 seats while the A350-900 and the A350-1000 will offer 315 and 369 seats respectively.
Photo:Fernando Olivares M - Santiago de Chile