Qatar Airways was the first commercial operator of the Airbus A350, beginning passenger service in January 2015.
The airline’s first A350 flight departed Doha for Frankfurt on 15 January 2015. Qatar Airways received the aircraft as the launch customer for the A350 XWB family, which Airbus designed as a new-generation wide-body twinjet.
The A350 uses extensive carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic construction, along with more efficient engines and improved cabin systems. These features were intended to lower fuel consumption and operating costs compared with older wide-body aircraft.
The first A350 is sometimes confused with the first A350-1000 operator. Qatar Airways also became the launch customer for that larger variant, but the original A350 passenger service used the shorter A350-900.