V-Flyer

The A350 Production List spreadsheet has been updated to show that the first parts for the 1st A350-1000 have begun to arrive!

A twitter was also posted here

It looks like the A35K's are yet to be named...

Thanks for this Slimpy, glad to see the production is moving forward.

Are registration & name usually public at the same time?

If the reg comes before the official naming, we could have a little guessing thread on potential names. Just a thought.

Number 71 also looks interesting.

-Steve

Stevieboy wrote:Number 71 also looks interesting.

-Steve

Good spot. That seems to be a recent update as well. It's an old test frame that's being reconfigured and going to Virgin.

I'd read somewhere else that VS where getting one of Airbuses ex-test A350 aircraft...guess those come with a discount possibly?

Production seems to have progressed now to "Undergoing final assembly"!

Perhaps some pictures will emerge soon, and surely some news about the new Upper Class seat, given that cabin fit is on the horizon?

Is the plan still for the first VS A350 to go into service in March / April 2019?

Appears to be early production if that is still the case ~6 months between production line and delivery seems excessive?

mitchja wrote:Is the plan still for the first VS A350 to go into service in March / April 2019?

Appears to be early production if that is still the case ~6 months between production line and delivery seems excessive?

Not sure when the aircraft is due to roll off the production line, but if the aim is for entry into service March/April 2019, it doesn't seem that excessive when you factor in the training time needed for pilots, cabin crew and ground staff. I'm not sure how long that will take if they are already type rated on A330/A340 aircraft.

Registration of the first A350 has been listed as G-VLUX



No clues as to what the name will be yet though, any guesses? Haha

SlimpyJones wrote:Registration of the first A350 has been listed as G-VLUX



No clues as to what the name will be yet though, any guesses? Haha

Lux as in Light so Starlight or Moonlight or Moonbeam?
Dick D

As in Velux loft windows

My first thought was LUX as in luxury...

First thought...

Miss Luxurious

Coinciding with the new Upper suites. Also heard on my flight to PVG the other day that the first route will be JFK.

It's on the move

https://twitter.com/a350_production/status/1055498126457495552?s=21

Nice find Paul! I'm liking the little Virgin logo on the winglets. Surprised the tail is still white.

Looks just like the 789's.... no engines

Suspect JFK may be initially to allow training although could replace the A346 on VS25.

tugpilot wrote:Suspect JFK may be initially to allow training although could replace the A346 on VS25.

I suspect that will be the case as well.

Some configuration and first route news has appeared on twitter, which has been subsequently posted to Flyertalk and airliners.net

Configuration being reported as 44 Upper Class, 56 Premium Economy, and 235 Economy. 1-2-1 configuration in Upper - Twitter link

First route also being given as LHR-EWR on Sept 9th. Interestingly this flight is not bookable on that day... Twitter link

Let the speculation continue!!

It's only the start of November and the first is already out of Final Assembly. Surely it's not going to be kicking its heels for months until next September

Olly Byers in full tease mode regarding the UC seats on this nice read.

https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2018/11/02/virgin-atlantics-a350-1000s-will-have-all-new-upper-class-seat-products/

Looking at the proposed seat config I think we may be looking at a VS version of the DL One suite in a 1-2-1 config...

As much as Byers, might have the normal corporate hyperbole, looking at the seat map config on ExpertFlyer really leads me to believe that all three cabins will be a Virgin branded version of what DL have done with their 350-9s. I imagine it to have more sparkle, and a bit more pizzaz, but generally I can't see it being much of a revolution!

J44/W56/235Y and 1-2-1 upper class.

Now let us speculate on what the LGW configuration will be.

J - obviously nowhere near the 44 - my hope would be about 24.
W - more likely 64.
Y - Possibly in the 300/310 region?

We shall see.

ColOrd wrote:As much as Byers, might have the normal corporate hyperbole, looking at the seat map config on ExpertFlyer really leads me to believe that all three cabins will be a Virgin branded version of what DL have done with their 350-9s. I imagine it to have more sparkle, and a bit more pizzaz, but generally I can't see it being much of a revolution!

Does the seatmap indicate the PE layout? Is it 2-4-2 as per Delta?