Lufthansa's first Airbus A350-1000 makes maiden test flight in Toulouse

Lufthansa's first Airbus A350-1000 has made its first flight, a test sortie from Toulouse lasting about three and a half hours on 5 October. The aircraft carries the French test registration F-WZNY and will become D-AIFA on handover.

It will be named Deutschland and wear a special 100-year livery: a large white crane on a dark blue fuselage. Lufthansa ordered ten A350-1000s from Airbus in 2023 and raised that to 15 aircraft in 2024.

No Lufthansa pilots were at the controls. Lufthansa Airlines chief Jens Ritter said each aircraft undergoes at least two test flights before the airline runs its own acceptance flights, so the first sortie was flown by Airbus test pilots. Checks covered flight controls, system warnings, seats, doors, panels and whether the coffee machine works. Ritter said nothing is taken for granted and everything is checked.

The airline's own pilots take over after the test flights, followed by further acceptance steps and entry into service. Ritter said the process is deliberately drawn out so the aircraft can later carry 300 passengers safely around the world. No precise delivery date has been given, though the handover is expected in November.