The largest Russian airline, Aeroflot, received its first Airbus A350-900. The flight from the factory in Toulouse took place on February 29. At the Sheremetyevo airport, landed at about 16:00 Moscow time.
The plane is painted in a new airline livery and has a three-class cabin layout with 316 seats, 264 of which are economy class. It is noted that 28 business-class seats are equipped with folding chairs to provide increased flight comfort. In addition, the aircraft is equipped with a Panasonic eX3 entertainment system that connects to Wi-Fi. According to some information, a bar with drinks will be placed in the business class lounge.
Aeroflot and Airbus signed a contract to supply the company’s latest airliners 13 years ago. It is expected that in 2020 the airline’s fleet will be replenished with 11 such aircraft. Thus, Aeroflot became the first operator of this type in Russia. The official ceremony of transferring the aircraft will take place in Sheremetyevo on March 4, and the first regular flight A350-900 will perform on March 6, presumably, on the route Moscow – St. Petersburg. According to the Airbus press service, the liner will also operate flights to London, Dubai, New York, Miami, Osaka and Beijing.
Today, the long-haul airliner Airbus A350-900 is operated by such airlines as Qatar Airlines, Finnair, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. At the end of January 2020, the A350 XWB family received 935 orders from 50 airlines worldwide, making it one of the most successful wide-body aircraft ever.
Anatoly Sergulin, Vasily Kuznetsov