Airbus has delivered the first major airframe section to the A350 XWB Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse, France. The 21 metre long "front fuselage" section, delivered from Airbus in Saint-Nazaire by the Beluga aircraft, is destined to become part of the A350 XWB static test airframe. Final assembly of this airframe will start during the first quarter 2012 when the front fuselage is joined with the centre fuselage. Final assembly start of the first "flyable" A350 XWB will follow in the second quarter 2012.

Covering a total area of 7.2 hectares, the A350 XWB FAL is the greenest building ever built by Airbus: half of the roof fitted with 22,000 square metres of photovoltaic solar panels, over 6,000 square metres of translucent window panels and glass arched roofs and a new lighting system to limit the use to strict needs, are some of the new building's modern, energy saving features. The A350 XWB FAL will produce 55 percent of its own energy and thus will save some 150 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Other recent A350 XWB production highlights include the delivery on December 19th of the first vertical tailplane (VTP) from Airbus' site in Stade, Germany to the FAL in Toulouse and the delivery on December 16th of the first rear fuselage from Airbus in Getafe, Spain to Hamburg.

Contributed by Airbus S.A.S.