newstodate.aero
Mar 08, 2016 (newstodate): At long last, things may now be moving to see the delivery of another two Airbus A350 aircraft for Finnair, bringing the fleet to a total of five before the end of this year's first quarter.
Having been standing idle on the flight line since its first test flight on December 4, 2015, Finnair's aircraft #4 has now performed a second test flight on March 7, 2016, while aircraft #5 is still standing idle since its first and only test flight on January 7, 2016.
Problems with cabin interior including toilet modules are known to remain an issue with Airbus A350 deliveries, but Finnair remains tight lipped when asked for a comment.
-As you know there are hundreds of details in testing and acceptance process and our policy is not to comment those details, says a Finnair Communications spokesperson.
In the latest announcement on the issue from December 23, 2015, Finnair said it would take delivery of the sixth aircraft in July 2016, while the seventh aircraft will enter the fleet only in February 2017.
Finnair Communications now claims that aircraft #7 will indeed be delivered by the end of this year.
The delays have caused Finnair to reschedule the introduction of the A350 aircraft on several routes.
On the route to Hong Kong, the A350 intro has now been rescheduled to March 16, 2016, against March 2, 2016, and will serve route together with an Airbus A330 until taking over fully only from April 7, 2016.
During the period from March 3 to April 30, 2016, Finnair's flights to Beijing - Finnair's opening route with the A350 - will be operated with a mix of A330-300 and A340-300, replacing the A350-900.
The A350 should have entered service on the route to London from March 4, 2016, but this has now been reset to March 18, while the route to Brussels will see the introduction of the A350 only from March 245, against earlier March 3.
Having been standing idle on the flight line since its first test flight on December 4, 2015, Finnair's aircraft #4 has now performed a second test flight on March 7, 2016, while aircraft #5 is still standing idle since its first and only test flight on January 7, 2016.
Problems with cabin interior including toilet modules are known to remain an issue with Airbus A350 deliveries, but Finnair remains tight lipped when asked for a comment.
-As you know there are hundreds of details in testing and acceptance process and our policy is not to comment those details, says a Finnair Communications spokesperson.
In the latest announcement on the issue from December 23, 2015, Finnair said it would take delivery of the sixth aircraft in July 2016, while the seventh aircraft will enter the fleet only in February 2017.
Finnair Communications now claims that aircraft #7 will indeed be delivered by the end of this year.
The delays have caused Finnair to reschedule the introduction of the A350 aircraft on several routes.
On the route to Hong Kong, the A350 intro has now been rescheduled to March 16, 2016, against March 2, 2016, and will serve route together with an Airbus A330 until taking over fully only from April 7, 2016.
During the period from March 3 to April 30, 2016, Finnair's flights to Beijing - Finnair's opening route with the A350 - will be operated with a mix of A330-300 and A340-300, replacing the A350-900.
The A350 should have entered service on the route to London from March 4, 2016, but this has now been reset to March 18, while the route to Brussels will see the introduction of the A350 only from March 245, against earlier March 3.