This Airbus A350 is a long-range, mid-size, wide-body family of airliners currently under development by Airbus. The A350 will be the first Airbus with both wing structures and wing fuselage made primarily of carbon- fiber, reinforced plastic. The A350 is designed to compete with the Boeing 777 and the Boeing 787. Airbus claims the aircraft will be more fuel-efficient, with up to 8% lower operating cost than the Boeing 787. It is scheduled to enter into airline service in 2013. The launch customer for the Airbus A350 will be Quatar Airways, which ordered the -900 variant. A total of 530 orders have been placed to date. Development costs are projected to be US$15 billion.
