Airbus A350F completes first flight in Toulouse

The Airbus A350F freighter completed its maiden flight from Toulouse on Tuesday, 29 September. The first test aircraft, MSN700, flew for four hours and ten minutes and reached 25,000 feet, opening the flight-test campaign for Airbus’s new long-haul cargo aircraft. 

The five-person crew comprised test pilots Bernardo Saez-Benito and Sylvain Guiraud, test flight engineer Ludovic Girard, and flight test engineers Laurent Bussiere and Jaime Angoloti. According to Airbus, the first sortie checked the aircraft’s basic airworthiness, handling qualities and the performance of key systems against predictions.

The A350F draws on the passenger A350 family but has its own fuselage configuration and a large main-deck cargo door. Airbus plans a flight-test programme lasting more than nine months, using two aircraft. MSN700 will concentrate on aerodynamics, handling and autopilot testing; the second prototype, MSN701, will focus on systems, including air conditioning and cargo fire and smoke protection. It is in advanced final assembly.

Airbus says the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97-powered freighter will carry up to 111 tonnes over a range of up to 8,700 kilometres. These are design capabilities to be validated through certification, rather than results demonstrated by Tuesday’s flight. At the end of August, Airbus had recorded 115 A350F orders from 14 disclosed customers.

Airbus is targeting the first customer delivery in the second half of 2027, subject to the outcome of testing and certification. The A350F will give the manufacturer a new competitor in the large freighter market, where Boeing’s 777 family has long held a strong position.