Airbus A350 takes off on first test flight

The new Airbus A350 takes off for its maiden flight at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport in southwestern France June 14, 2013. Europe's newest passenger jet, the Airbus A350, successfully began its maiden flight on Friday. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

European airplane manufacturer Airbus' newest aircraft, the A350, successfully took off on its first test flight on Friday from France's southwestern city of Toulouse.

With a total investment of $15 billion, the launch of the new aircraft was seen as a major effort by Airbus to challenge its US rival Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in the long-distance market.

The A350 is Airbus' mid-size long-range airplane seating between 270 and 350 passengers. It is designed to be more fuel-efficient, using 25 percent less fuel compared with existing aircraft of same size and providing an equivalent of reduction in CO2 emissions, according to the company.

Each A350 aircraft costs around $250 to 330 million and consumes 6 percent less oil than Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, according to market analysts.

China also participated in about 5 percent of the design and manufacturing of the aircraft's body.

Friday's flight marked the beginning of a test campaign totaling around 2,500 flight hours with a fleet of five development aircraft.

The aircraft is expected to enter into service in the second half of 2014.

Analysts said the new A350 will gradually replace the older A330, a popular plane that is believed to have generated almost half of the company's revenues in recent years, according to French media reports.

The company is bullish about future orders for the A350 and is hoping to win more at next week's international air show in Paris.

"I believe that the air show next week should be good for a few hundred orders for Airbus," Tom Enders, head of Airbus' parent company EADS, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

To date the A350 has already won 613 firm orders from 33 customers worldwide. China is expected to order 1,000 such aircraft in the next 20 years, according to the company.