The Airbus A350 Was Supposed To Look Like An A330

On October 6th, 2005, Airbus held the “industrial launch” event for its new aircraft: The long-range A350 family, consisting of the -900 and -800. This new type was the company’s answer to the Boeing 787. While it was designed to incorporate the latest technologies of the time, including composite wings and new engines, the aircraft looked startlingly similar to the A330.

The first A350 design: Nothing like the final product

Designing an aircraft and bringing it to market is a tremendous undertaking that consumes large amounts of time, energy, and financial resources. Throughout this lengthy process, numerous changes may be made to the original design. It’s precisely what has happened between the original A350 and the production model we see flying today.

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Indeed, the two jets look pretty different from one another. The A350, when it was first launched, looked incredibly similar to the A330:

Sharp-edged, angular winglets with a nose that had a nearly identical profile to the A330. Cockpit windows appeared to have the same arrangement as well – complete with that little notch on the top corner of the last window on each side.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, the video from the 2005 launch event (embedded below) gives us a good idea of just how much Airbus changed between the product launch and the production model.

Indeed, it wasn’t just a difference in appearance. As noted in a presentation slide displayed at the event, the aircraft was also supposed to be powered by General Electric’s GEnx powerplant – the “A350 GEnx.” As you may already know, this did not remain part of the plan, as the A350, in its final form, continues to be exclusively powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB powerplant.

What happened?

While the industrial launch event would see Airbus announce commitments from nine customers for 140 firm orders, some in the industry were unhappy with the 2005 design. Indeed, some of the planemaker’s largest customers were publicly critical of the A350.

Photo: Airbus

As noted by Aviation Week, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, chairman of International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC), publicly criticized Airbus’ design, stating that it was too dependent on the A330. Udvar-Hazy urged the manufacturer to scrap its plan and commit to a clean-sheet design. Henry Hubschman, president of GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), shared this sentiment as well.

Listening to some of its largest customers, Airbus returned to the drawing board and redesigned the A350, unveiling the revision at the 2006 Farnborough Airshow. This new design would be much closer to the final production model, sporting curved, blended winglets in addition to sleek, curved cockpit windows.

Photo: BoeingMan777 | Shutterstock

Around the same time, Airbus would close the door on the possibility of powering the A350 with GEnx powerplants. According to the Aero News Network, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy was quoted as saying: