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Finnair to be first to operate Airbus A350 on long-haul flights to China

Xinhua, April 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Finnish national carrier Finnair will start using Airbus A350 XWB aircraft for long-haul operations, and the first destinations will be Shanghai and Beijing, China, the airline said on Thursday.

Finnair announced that it is the world's first airline to operate A350 airplanes on scheduled services to China. The daily A350 service will operate between Helsinki and Shanghai starting in October this year and between Helsinki and Beijing starting in November.

After that, the airline will start flying the newly launched aircraft to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Finnair has ordered a total of 19 Airbus A350s for the purpose. The A350 XWB will seat 297 passengers in a two class configuration.

Finnair's chief executive officer, Pekka Vauramo, said the A350 investment program is the largest in the company's 92-year history.

The first Airbus A350 aircraft was completed painting in May 2013, and then started a series of flight tests. The first commercial flight was carried out by Qatar Airways on Jan. 15, 2015, from Doha to Frankfurt. Up to now, only Qatar Airways has been operating this type of aircraft. Endit