China Airlines receives final Airbus A350 with special livery
China Airlines has received their 14th and final Airbus A350-900 within their order for the type.
MSN 239, registered as B-18918, features a special livery that combines the carbon fiber patter seen on one of Airbus’ test aircraft with the colors of China Airlines.
Additionally, the two 18s seen in the registration is very auspicious for good fortune and is quite common for airlines within the region.
Although this is the last Airbus A350 on order by the airline, a further six options are available to be taken up. Talks for a top-up order have also been mentioned in recent times, with the Airbus A350-1000 being looked at. The airline states the aircraft has a very comparable passenger capacity to the Boeing 777-300ER, which is good because with the rising fuel prices, new aircraft will have to be considered.
Airbus has outlined the key features and network of China Airlines‘ A350-900 fleet in the following infographic:
China Airlines has their Airbus A350-900s configured in a three-class configuration, with 32 flat bed seats in Premium Business, 31 recliner seats in Premium Economy and 243 standard seats in Economy, totaling 306 seats on board the aircraft.
Business class seats all have direct aisle access with a side table. As mentioned above, each seat can be converted into a flat bed which extends 1.9 meters. An 18 inch entertainment screen is fitted, with access to USB and AC charging ports as well as the in flight Wi-Fi whoch spans the entire aircraft.
Premium Economy is a little less advanced with the seat layout configured as 2-3-2. Each seat has a pitch of 39 inches and a width of 20 inches. Economy is pretty standard with a 3-3-3 configuration. The entertainment is a little smaller but still offers USB charging as well as AC-power.
The aircraft fly to destinations within Europe, North America, as well as some key cities in the Asia-Pacific region. New routes such as Milan and Prague are being developed and will be launched as early as late-2019.
Since the launch of the A350, Airbus has logged a total of 890 firm orders from 46 customers. The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines that power the A350 family have been performing to specification, with airlines praising the efficiency and reliability of the type.
Various improvements have been made since launch, including aerodynamic upgrades to the wings by using taller winglets and adjusted flap fairings as well as reducing the number of layers that create the wing itself. Higher maximum takeoff weight variants have become available, allowing the aircraft to carry more payload or fly further, as seen in the A350-900ULR.
You can watch the assembly and painting process of this very aircraft here:
What are your thoughts on this Airbus/China Airlines liver?