In a short while now, Lufthansa’s first A350 will take off from the runway at Airbus’ complex in Toulouse and head for Munich where she is due to arrive at approximately about 2 hours later. This delivery flight will mark the long awaited beginning of the A350 fleet that will initially be based in Munich.
The ‘keys’ to the plane were officially handed over to Lufthansa on Monday after completing the paperwork that transferred ownership of the airplane from Airbus to Lufthansa.
Lufthansa is currently live streaming the event, and you can watch it here while it is taking place (If there is no feed, that means that they have stopped broadcasting). You can also check their Facebook Portal for additional video as they make it available.
German Avgeeks In For a Treat!
For those of you living near major airports around Germany, you’ll have a chance to see the airplane in person as she will do a wide series of take offs and landings at airports around the country. This is done in order to give cockpit crew ample time to gain certification for flying the aircraft. You can find that the initial training flight schedule here.
D-AIXA going through test flights in Toulouse. Photo courtesy of Airbus.
After delivery, LH Technik will take time to install the aircraft’s cabin interior in Munich ahead of it’s debut on the route between Munich and Delhi on February 10.
Before entering ‘revenue service’, LH will show off ‘D-AIXA’ at an invitation only ‘Roll In’ event in Munich that I will be attending on February 2. From there, Lufthansa will have the A350 fly a special pair of flights from Munich to Hamburg and back on February 9 right before it departs for Delhi on the 10th.
