Airbus starts assembly of 2nd test A350F

Airbus has begun assembling the second A350F to be used for the program’s flight test campaign as the manufacturer targets certification and entry into service in the second half of 2027. The aircraft (701) is having its fuselage joined in Toulouse (TLS) and will move into Station 40 for final assembly this month, Crawford Hamilton, head of freighter marketing at Airbus, said during a presentation at the recent IATA World Cargo Symposium in Lima, Peru. [caption id="attachment_57295950" align="alignright" width="2560"] Unit 700 entered final assembly in the second half of 2025. (Courtesy/Airbus)[/caption] Meanwhile, the prototype (700) is undergoing ground tests after assembly of most major components was completed in November 2025. Airbus is looking at this summer for it to begin flight tests, with unit 701 to follow before the end of the year, Hamilton said. “So, design to reality is coming off the drawing board, and now it’s becoming real,” he said. Airbus told Cargo Facts in November 2025 that it expected to start assembling unit 701 in early 2026 as it finishes unit 700. The main fuselage sections, wings, horizontal stabilizer, cargo-loading system and other components for unit 700 arrived at TLS in September, he said. Flight tests in live environment The flight test campaign, which will last around ten months, will see tests of the cargo-loading systems on both development aircraft. Handling, performance and autoland tests will be performed on unit 700, while Airbus will conduct air conditioning and smoke systems tests on unit 701, Hamilton said. Unit 701 will also undergo a weather campaign and probably fly the bulk of demonstration flights around the world so Airbus can evaluate its performance in various environments and climates, Hamilton said. “We start to go to hot places, cold places, wet places,” he added. “If you want to find out how you load an aircraft when a typhoon hits Hong Kong, the best thing is to go to Hong Kong during a typhoon.” Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific ordered six A350Fs in 2023. Milestone A350F order Airbus this week announced its largest A350F order to date, with Atlas Air adding twenty firm aircraft to the backlog and bringing it to more than 100 units. The deal, at an estimated list price of approximately $450 million per A350F, on paper is one of the largest freighter orders ever, although major customers, like Atlas Air, usually receive significant discounts, especially for large orders. Atlas joins Cathay and twelve other customers that have ordered eighty-one A350Fs from Airbus: Ten units each from AviLease , Starlux Airlines , and Etihad Airways ; Eight from CMA CGM ; Seven each from Singapore Airlines and Korean Air ; Six each from Cathay and Air China Cargo ; Five from Turkish Airlines ; Four from Silk Way West Airlines ; Three each from Air France and Martinair ; and Two from MNG Airlines . Cargo Facts will present four invaluable events for airfreight professionals in 2026, the next of which is <a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://cargofactsevents.com/asia/?utm_campaign=22235567-CF%20Asia%202026&utm_source=Editorial&utm_medium=article%20event%20footer&utm_term=CF%20website&utm_content=Learn%20More&utm_source=Weekly+Update+-+Cargo+Facts&utm_campaign=fbe548904b-CF+Update_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_621baa6827-fbe548904b-40083601&mc_cid=fbe548904b&mc_eid=adbe8bb0b4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Cargo Facts Asia on March 23-25. To see the agendas and register for the events, visit CargoFactsEvents.com .

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