Thread: Will the A350 Take Over the 787???

The Airbus A350 successfully completed its first flight on Friday after a four-hour test flight.
The lightweight carbon-composite jet flew over the Airbus plant in Toulouse to salute production workers before wrapping up a four-hour inaugural flight that Airbus officials said had achieved more than expected.
Watched by 10,000 staff and spectators, the aircraft's curled wingtips sliced into clouds above the factory in southwestern France and flew over the Pyrenees.
The sortie caps eight years of designing and development costing an estimated USD$15 billion.
Airbus's sales chief, John Leahy, lost no time in talking up the plane's benefits moments after its two Rolls-Royce engines lifted the A350 from the same runway where the supersonic Concorde made its first run 44 years ago.
"Did you hear how quiet it was? We are going to set new standards... People round airports won't even know we are taking off," Leahy said. More expensive than other aircraft at about USD$300 million a piece at list prices, the A350's business case relies on fuel savings of some 25 percent compared with current airliners.
Airbus is finalizing orders from Singapore Airlines, Kuwait Airways and Air France and hopes to add a new customer at the June 17-23 show, analysts say.
Airbus would soon add a customer in the United States, where industry sources say UA is negotiating to expand an order for 25 aircraft..