J.C.Wings 1:400 Airbus 350-XWB: Hong Kong Air Lines

The Airbus A350 XWB is a family of long-range, twin-engine wide-body jet airliners developed by the European aerospace manufacturer Airbus. The A350 is the first Airbus aircraft with both fuselage and wing structures made primarily of carbon fibre reinforced polymer. Its variants seat 315 to 369 passengers in typical seating layouts. The A350 is positioned to succeed the A340 and to compete with the Boeing 787 and 777.

The A350 was originally conceived in 2004 as a pairing of the A330's fuselage with new aerodynamics features and engines. In 2006, Airbus redesigned the aircraft in response to negative feedback from several major prospective customers, producing the "A350 XWB" (eXtra Wide Body). Development costs are estimated at €11 billion (US$15 billion or £9.5 billion). As of February 2019, Airbus had received 893 orders for A350s from 51 customers worldwide. The prototype A350 first flew on 14 June 2013 from Toulouse, France. Type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency was received in September 2014 and certification from the Federal Aviation Administration two months later. On 15 January 2015, the A350-900 entered service with its launch operator Qatar Airways; the A350-1000 did so on 24 February 2018 with the same airline.

Airbus initially rejected Boeing's claim that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner would be a serious threat to the Airbus A330, stating that the 787 was just a reaction to the A330 and that no response was needed. When airlines urged Airbus to provide a competitor, Airbus initially proposed the "A330-200Lite", a derivative of the A330 featuring improved aerodynamics and engines similar to those on the 787. The company planned to announce this version at the 2004 Farnborough Airshow, but did not proceed.

On 14 July 2006, during the Farnborough International Airshow, the redesigned aircraft was designated "A350 XWB" (Xtra-Wide-Body). Within four days, Singapore Airlines agreed to order 20 A350XWBs with options for another 20 A350XWBs.

The proposed A350 was a new design, including a wider fuselage cross-section, allowing seating arrangements ranging from an eight-abreast low-density premium economy layout to a ten-abreast high-density seating configuration for a maximum seating capacity of 440–475 depending on variant. The A330 and previous iterations of the A350 would only be able to accommodate a maximum of eight seats per row. The 787 is typically configured for nine seats per row. The 777 accommodates nine or ten seats per row, with more than half of recent 777s being ten-abreast as the 777X will be. The A350 cabin is 12.7 cm (5.0 in) wider at the eye level of a seated passenger than the 787's cabin, and 28 cm (11 in) narrower than the Boeing 777's cabin. (See Wide-body aircraft for a comparison of cabin widths and seating.) All A350 passenger models have a range of at least 8,000 nmi (14,816 km). The redesigned composite fuselage provides higher cabin pressure and humidity, and lower maintenance costs.

On 1 December 2006, the Airbus board of directors approved the industrial launch of the A350-800, -900, and -1000 variants. The delayed launch decision was a result of delays of the Airbus A380 and discussions on how to fund development. EADS CEO Thomas Enders stated that the A350 programme was not a certainty, citing EADS/Airbus's stretched resources. However, it was decided programme costs are to be borne mainly from cash-flow. First delivery for the A350-900 was scheduled for mid-2013, with the -800 and -1000 following on 12 and 24 months later, respectively. New technical details of the A350 XWB were revealed at a press conference in December 2006. John Leahy indicated existing A350 contracts were being re-negotiated due to price increases compared to the original A350s contracted. On 4 January 2007, Pegasus Aviation Finance Company placed the first firm order for the A350 XWB with an order for two aircraft.

The design change imposed a two-year delay into the original timetable and increased development costs from US$5.3 billion (€5.5 billion) to approximately US$10 billion (€9.7 billion). The total development cost for the A350 was estimated at US$15 billion by Reuters (€12 billion or £10 billion).[38] The original mid-2013 delivery date of the A350 changed, as a longer than anticipated development forced Airbus to delay the final assembly and first flight of the aircraft to the third quarter of 2012 and second quarter of 2013 respectively. As a result, the flight test schedule was compressed from the original 15 months to 12 months. A350 programme chief Didier Evrard stressed that delays only affected the A350-900 while the -800 and -1000 schedules remained unchanged.

Hong Kong Airlines Limited is an airline based in Hong Kong, with its headquarters in the Tung Chung district and its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. It was established in 2006 as a member of the HNA Group.

Hong Kong Airlines flies to more than 30 cities, using a combined fleet of 28 aircraft as of 2019.