The first Airbus A350-1000 has taken off for its maiden flight, and is expected to enter scheduled service in the second half of 2017.

The aircraft took off at 10.42h at Blagnac in Toulouse, France and the test flight took place over Southwest France.

The crew consisted of experimental test pilots Hugues Van Der Stichel and Frank Chapman, and flight test engineer Gerard Maisonneuve. They were joined by head of flight & integration tests, Patrick du Che, head of A350 development flight tests Emanuele Constanzo and flight test engineer Stephane Vaux.

Airbus says experience of the A350-900 test campaign speed up the -1000’s programme.

So far 11 customers have placed orders for 195 A350-1000s.