Sheremetyevo International Airport welcomed the cutting-edge Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, which made a stop in Russia in the network of its international demonstration tour. The aircraft landed in Sheremetyevo on August 11th 2014 the day of the airport’s 55th anniversary. The historical flight was welcomed by hundreds of photographers, fans and aviation lovers, the airport’s press-service reports.

The A350 XWB’s presentation was held at Sheremetyevo on August 12th. The official part was attended by Andreas Kramer, Airbus Vice-President - Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Mikhail Vasilenko, CEO of Sheremetyevo International Airport, Giorgio Callegari, Aeroflot Deputy Director General - Strategy and Alliances, as well as representatives of airlines, partners, media, and bloggers.

During the press conference, the leaders of both companies stressed the importance of the flight and noted that this event will help strengthen cooperation between Russia and France.

Mikhail Vasilenko said: “It is a great honor for Sheremetyevo International Airport to become a platform for certification testing of the new A350 airliner. I hope that millions of passengers around the world will have a chance to enjoy a flight onboard this aircraft, including clients of our airport. The primary objective of Sheremetyevo is to provide the highest quality of ground handling operations and service for crew members and passengers. I believe that in a few years A350 will be able to use our new runway No. 3; its passengers will be serviced at the reconstructed north sector. The large projects in the area of airport infrastructure, which are being implemented in our airport, will serve as the basis for further development of Sheremetyevo”.

Andreas Kramer, Airbus Vice-President - Eastern Europe and Central Asia, added: “We are happy to bring the state-of-the-art airbus A350 XWB to Russia for the first time. We are also glad that this visit has coincided with such a memorable day as the Sheremetyevo’s 55th Anniversary. A350 XWB is a Russian aircraft too. Our engineers from the ECAR Centre located in Moscow took part in the liner’s development; the Centre is one of the best Airbus engineering centers in the world.”

The first flight of the new Airbus A350-900 aircraft to Russia is an important event for Sheremetyevo as well as the global aviation industry. After the press conference, guests and journalists took part in an excursion and had a chance to take a look at the jet’s interior. The visitors noted that the cabin features unique design and the latest materials, offers high comfort and state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system.

The Airbus A350 aircraft performed flight to Moscow in the network of the final stage of its certification testing - testing for commonality with an airport infrastructure. Sheremetyevo International Airport has performed all the required ground handling operations for Airbus A350-900 in accordance with ICAO regulations and latest international standards in the area of handling service.

In the network of the demonstration tour the A350 XWB visited 14 airports around the world and performed a flight over the North Pole. All the flights have been performed by A350 XWB MSN5 aircraft. The liner features a full-scale cabin seating 265 passengers. The jet’s certification should be completed in the third quarter of 2014.

Aeroflot is the launch customer in Russia for A350. The carrier signed the largest contract in Eastern Europe for delivery of 22 A350s. The deliveries should be started in mid-2018.