Airbus starts production of first fuselage barrel for the A350 XWB

Airbus has started making the first carbon fibre barrel for the A350 XWB fuselage at the company’s production plant in Illescas, Spain. The carbon fibre placement process used for producing the 5.5 metre long, 56 square metre fuselage barrel, known as section 19, will be completed in the coming weeks.

The majority of the A350 XWB fuselage is made from long carbon fibre panels which are easier to manufacture and to assemble than barrel sections. However for the rear part of the fuselage which is tapered, Airbus has selected a barrel as being the optimum structure.

Designed and manufactured with the right material and the right technology at the right place, the A350 XWB will shape the efficiency of medium-to-long haul airline operations from 2013 onwards.

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Notes to editors:
This achievement follows the start of production at Illescas, Spain on 29th November 2010 of the first flyable lower wing cover for the A350 XWB. Other recent industrial firsts which demonstrate the good progress being made worldwide for the A350 XWB include the start of production of the upper wing cover at Stade, Germany, the assembly start of the first centre wing box in Nantes (France) and the production start of the keel beam also in Nantes. In the UK, the Landing Gear Systems Test Facility was opened at Airbus’ site at Filton. A350 XWB partners are also moving full steam ahead with their production. Recent highlights include the completion of the first 19.7 metre long crown panel for the centre fuselage at Sprit AeroSystems in Kinton, USA and the successful curing of the crown panel for the forward fuselage section at Premium Aerotech in Nordenham, Germany.

The A350 XWB Family consists of three passenger versions with true long-range capability of flying up to 8500nm/15,580km. In a typical three-class configuration, the A350-800 will offer 270 seats while the A350-900 and the A350-1000 will offer 314 and 350 seats respectively. All members of the family can be configured for higher density layouts of up to 440 seats. The baseline model, the A350-900’s design was frozen in December 2008 and is progressing towards entry-into-service in second half of 2013.