Big Airbus A350 News

Progress is being made on the new upcoming dedicated freighter, the A350F, as it inches closer to its first flight.

Now, a milestone has formally been reached with the arrival of the first fuselage of the prototype in Toulouse, the home of the planemaker, but more importantly, the final assembly line.

Forward sections 11-14 and central sections 15-21 have already had work undertaken and were built in a different Airbus facility, before being shipped to Toulouse for further production to be conducted.

For Airbus, this is a significant milestone and a step in the right direction for the A350F program, which is expected to change the game for freight providers seeking to evolve their business with new-gen equipment.

The first delivery for the Airbus A350F is still some time away, following several program delays which have been exacerbated by supply chain constraints, among other concerns.

Based on the most recent forecasting, in February 2025, Airbus expects to deliver the A350F to customers by the second half of 2027, a timeframe that is now being confirmed by those who have ordered the jet as well.

Airbus previously outlined 2026 as the target for the first delivery of the A350F and even targeted a first flight sometime in the back end of 2025, which only looks increasingly more likely as the months progress.

A Busy Period For A350 Freighter

Work on the first A350 Freighter progressing is a positive development in what has been a busy period for the program, with cancellations and customer updates.

CMA CGM was revealed as the new launch customer for the A350 Freighter in recent weeks, a move that’ll see the French logistics firm take on the first unit when ready for delivery.

The switch occurred thanks to an order cancellation from long-standing customer Air Lease Corporation, which is a leading lessor that had purchased seven of the dedicated freighters at the 2021 Dubai Airshow.

However, over the last four years, the lessor says priorities have dramatically changed, and now there’s greater emphasis internally on serving passenger airlines and therefore with passenger aircraft.

If Air Lease Corporation moved ahead with the A350F, it was felt that this would overcomplicate the business by bringing on a new dedicated freighter; as a result, the order was cut, and CMA CGM took the spot as the launch customer.

Meanwhile, in the July orders and deliveries sheet, Airbus would confirm that an A350F order had been axed from the backlog, this from Martinair, part of the Air France-KLM Group.

The axing follows an evaluation by the European airline Group over the future fleet makeup and the necessity to rely less on the new freighter aircraft moving forward, with a previously confirmed intention to axe units from the backlog.

Additionally, Air France-KLM says the decision to remove some orders for the new jet follows program delays, a common industry issue when launch windows balloon out. Unfortunately, this has become a more common theme in the last five years.