Over the past few years aviation enthusiasts have been treated to quite a few historic inaugural flights, be it the double-decker Airbus A380, the jumbo’s latest sibling 747-8 Intercontinental or Boeing’s revolutionary 787 Dreamliner. One plane that has almost every enthusiast excited is the Airbus A350 XWB and is likely that it may make its first flight on Friday at the Paris Air Show.
It has been rumored quite a few times before that Airbus will show off its latest creation in all its glory at Paris Air Show, which is one of the biggest air shows held anywhere in the world. Today the official Airbus Twitter account posted a teaser image, lending fuel to the speculation that Airbus A350 XWB first flight is taking off on Friday. This particular plane is the European conglomerate’s answer to the American made Boeing 787, as well as a couple of other Boeing planes. They’ve fashioned the fuselage largely out of composite materials which enable the aircraft to achieve 25% better fuel efficiency. To avoid the battery saga that plagued 787 Dreamliner, Airbus has opted for nickel-cadmium batteries instead of the lithium-ion ones. The plane might fly on Friday, but it would still take a lot of time before paying passengers can go for a ride in the new Airbus aircraft.