Less than three years after its industrial launch, Airbus' A350 XWB surpassed the 500-order milestone with Ethiopian Airlines' firm order for 12 of these next-generation aircraft, which was announced at the 2009 Dubai Airshow. This new Airbus customer will operate the A350-900 version from its hub in the capital city of Addis Ababa on routes to Europe, the U.S. and Asia - bringing a new level of passenger comfort and fuel efficiency to its expanding operations. Firm orders for the A350 XWB now stand at 505 aircraft from 32 customers worldwide.
Turkish Airlines is acquiring seven Airbus A330-300s for its high-capacity, medium-haul routes, increasing the flag carrier’s Airbus fleet to 74 (18 August 2009)
Afriqiyah Airways has expanded its all-Airbus fleet with delivery of the carrier’s first A330-200, which will operate on long-haul routes from Tripoli (17 August 2009)
Airbus’ 18 metre-long A350 XWB demonstrator fuselage helped validate the production process for this widebody jetliner’s composite airframe (10 August 2009)
The second large test composite fuselage section for Airbus’ next-generation A350 XWB jetliner has been completed at the Hamburg, Germany facility (10 August 2009)
A special ceremony in Toulouse, France marks the delivery of the 1,000th aircraft from Airbus' versatile A330/A340 Family - an A330-300 - to Thai Airways International (30 July 2009)
The 1,000th A330/A340 Family aircraft – an A330-300 – was delivered to Thai Airways International, expanding the carrier’s A330/A340 fleet to 25 (30 July 2009)
Shanghai Airlines has become a new operator of Airbus aircraft after receiving the first of 10 A321 single-aisle jetliners ordered by the Chinese carrier (17 July 2009)
China-based Juneyao Airlines – a privately-owned carrier that currently operates 10 leased Airbus aircraft – has taken delivery of its first purchased A320 (16 July 2009)
The initial Chinese-built A320 - the first Airbus aircraft produced outside Europe - was delivered to Dragon Aviation Leasing during a ceremony at the Tianjin final assembly line on 23 June 2009
