Last Monday, Aeroflot’s first A350-900 successfully completed its maiden flight over France.
The aircraft, with test registration F-WZGT and listed as flight AIB01GT, took off from the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France and spent 3 hours in the skies.
After take-off from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport at 10:31 UTC, the aircraft headed to the Mediterranean Sea. During the 2 hours the aircraft flew at a high altitude, initially at 35,000 ft and then later climbed to a total height of 43,000 ft.
Before returning to the airport they performed a test at low altitude (around 12,000 ft) for 1 hour, flying over the Pyrenees in the South of France.
The initial flight marked the beginning of the last phase of production, which includes cabin completion, as well as further ground and flight tests leading to customer acceptance and delivery.
This A350 will be registered as VQ-BFY. The Russian carrier has 15 of these aircraft on order, which will be delivered between 2020 and 2023.
Aeroflot A350 Routes
The A350 will be based at the Aeroflot hub in Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport. So far, Aeroflot announced seven long haul routes: New York, Beijing, Seoul, Miami, New Delhi, Havana and Osaka.
Aeroflot A350 Flights to St. Petersburg
According to Routes Online Aeroflot will place the A350-900 on Moscow Sheremetyevo to St. Petersburg route, before starting long haul flights at the end of March.
The main reason for this is to familiarise crews with the aircraft and work out any kinks before the plane enters long haul service.
Between March 6th and March 20th Aeroflot will use its new A350 for 3 daily flights on this route.
Aeroflot A350 Flights to New York
The first long haul flight of the A350 will be to New York and starts on March 29th.
SU122 Moscow to New York departing 19:40 arriving 23:10
SU123 New York to Moscow departing 00:55 arriving 17:20
Aeroflot A350 Configuration
Aeroflots A350-900s will feature a total of 316 seats, including 28 full-flat Business Class seats, 24 Premium Economy seats and 264 Economy Class seats.
The new Business Class suites is in a 1-2-1 configuration. This is a huge improvement for Aeroflot, compared to its current 2-2-2 configured product.
The new Premium Economy seats are in a 2-4-2 configuration, with extra pitch and footrests.
Economy Class seats are in a 3-3-3 configuration, with the same dark-blue fabric and brown headrest as Business Class and Premium Economy.
All details of the A350 cabin on the next article:
Covered Image by @Frenchpainter