Qatar Airways, five-star airline and national carrier of the Gulf state of Qatar, invited media representatives to a breakfast and tour of one of their four (of 80 ordered) Airbus A350 XWBs during a transit stop in Frankfurt on 4 August.
Guests were cordially met by Frédéric Gossot, Qatar Manager Germany and Austria. The Gulf airline has been using its Airbus A350 XWB twice a day from Frankfurt since March. The aircraft is nicknamed ‘Hushliner’ due to its low noise levels.
15 January saw Qatar become the world’s first customer to ‘introduce’ the ‘environmental role model’ Airbus A350 XWB in Frankfurt. And not without reason. “We chose Frankfurt in order to demonstrate to Lufthansa the strength of its Gulf competitors”, Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker explained at the event earlier this year.
“Qatar Airways’ A350 is the first of its kind, with cabins combining state-of-the-art technology with a new level of luxury”, Gossot added during his tour of the interior. There is a pure, classy look to everything. The grey and burgundy shades exude a pleasant ambience, which is accentuated by special LED lighting.
Feeling of vastness
Qatar flies the Airbus A350 in two class configurations: 36 seats in Business Class and 247 in Economy. Business Class meals are served exclusively on trays.
The high-ceilinged passenger cabin in the A350 XWB’s extra wide body, with its panoramic windows, conveys a feeling of vastness.
The carbon-fibre fuselage enables low cabin pressure, and the LED mood lighting in the cabin changes colour based on the time of day at the destination – so as to minimise jetlag. A state-of-the-art filter system additionally blows permanently fresh air into the cabin.
With its 1-2-1 configuration, Business Class seats can be extended into 203-cm-long flat- beds. In-flight entertainment is broadcast on a 17-inch high-definition Thales Avant touch screen.
The extra-wide Economic Class seats with 3-3-3 configuration feature four adjustable head-rest settings and a 10.6-inch screen.
According to the Qatar manager, the aircraft’s unique design means its wings can adjust their shape and ensure optimum aerodynamics, not only making it faster and quieter, but also more efficient. Carbon emissions are said to be 25 percent lower than current comparable models as a result. Qatar Airways has ordered a total of 80 A250s.
Lufthansa has also ordered 25 of the A350-900s, these will start being used in late 2016. (jwm)
Photos: Oliver Rösler
The Airbus A350 Impresses with Its Environmental Compatibility
Environmental compatibility and the high efficiency of the manufacturing process have never been such a major focus in an aircraft line as in the case of the Airbus A350 XWB. Topics such as speed and ceiling, namely the maximum altitude that an aircraft can reach, are being replaced by solutions such as energy-saving lamps in production halls, more efficient assembly schedules and aerofoils that have a positive impact on fuel consumption. The main focus of construction activities is placed on new composite materials, above all carbon composites (CFRPs). In fact, more than half of the Airbus A350, 53 percent, is manufactured from composite materials. The first subcomponents to be manufactured from CFRPs can be found in the Airbus A350 centre wing box and were completed at the Airbus plant in Nantes, France. Nantes specialises in the development of CFRPs and is an important location for Airbus’ manufacturing activities. Airbus aims to use the lowest seat costs per mile, plenty of space to move around in thanks to the widest body in its class and compliance with the strictest environmental specifications to convince potential buyers. Such an approach comes as no surprise in these times of climate summits and constant growth in environmental awareness.