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.
Airbus celebrates 40 years of innovation - The A300 was the very first wide-body twin engine ever brought to the market, setting brand new standards in the industry.
Vice President Production Flight Tests Harry Nelson discusses the milestone maiden flight of the first A320 built at Airbus’ Chinese assembly line in this video clip (18 May 2009)
Swiss International Air Lines has received the first of nine widebody A330-300s ordered to expand this Zurich, Switzerland-based carrier’s medium- to long-haul network (20 April 2009)
