Finnair Receives its First Airbus A350, Finland's flag Carrier Considered as the First European Airline to fly the Aircraft type
Finland's flag carrier and largest airline, Finnair successfully received the delivered first Airbus A350-900 on Wednesday. The Finnair's very first Airbus A350 came from Helsinki-Vantaa airport and upon the delivery, a celebration was held. The Finnish airline is now known to be the first airline in Europe to operate the aircraft type.
According to the YLE, a celebration for the successful hand over of the said aircraft was held at Toulouse, France yesterday . Finnair airline is expecting 19 new types of A350 aircrafts. The old A340's will be substitute by the new A350 aircraft. It is reported to be the Finnair's largest investment.
The Airbus A350 yesterday is the first aircraft from the nineteen aircrafts Finnair will obtain through 2019. The second aircraft will arrive next month and another five Airbus types will be delivered next year, 2016. In the year 2017, four aircrafts will be added, in 2018, four and by the year of 2019, it will be completed with the last four, the Airways News reported. The new batch of aircrafts is also powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 engines.
The first aircraft will operate in Helsinki to Shanghai route, according to the Flight Global. Ville Iho, the Finnair chief operating officer also released their official statement about their newest aircraft. "For the first few weeks, the new aircraft will serve crew familiarisation flights in Europe, with the first commercial flights taking place on 9 October to Amsterdam and Oslo." However, the Finnair is still considering operating on their Asian network A350 services, and also targeting to be the first airline to fly the type in US.
The Finnair chief also added, "We have built the necessary flexibility into our preparedness plans and our A340 exit plan to adjust to any changes that may arise over the course of this massive programme, ensuring a smooth introduction of the new aircraft into our fleet."