Credit:

-@FeiGe3 for the plane

-@cx332 For the tail logo

-@RedTrinity For part of livery

About Airbus A350

The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbus A330 with composite wings, advanced winglets, and new efficient engines. Due to inadequate market support, Airbus switched in 2006 to a clean-sheet "XWB" (eXtra Wide Body) design, powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB high bypass turbofan engines. The prototype first flew on 14 June 2013 from Toulouse, France. Type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was obtained in September 2014, followed by certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) two months later.

The A350 is the first Airbus aircraft largely made of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers. The fuselage is designed around a 3-3-3 nine-across economy cross-section, an increase from the eight-across A330/A340 2-4-2 configuration. It has a common type rating with the A330. The airliner has two variants: the A350-900 typically carries 300 to 350 passengers over a 15,000-kilometre (8,100-nautical-mile) range, and has a 283-tonne (624,000 lb) maximum takeoff weight (MTOW); the longer A350-1000 accommodates 350 to 410 passengers and has a maximum range of 16,500 kilometres (8,900 nmi) and a 322-tonne (710,000 lb) MTOW.

On 15 January 2015, the first A350-900 entered service with Qatar Airways, followed by the A350-1000 on 24 February 2018 with the same launch operator. As of April 2025, Singapore Airlines is the largest operator with 65 aircraft in its fleet, while Turkish Airlines is the largest customer with 110 aircraft on order. A total of 1,391 A350 family aircraft have been ordered and 658 delivered, of which 657 aircraft are in service with 38 operators. The global A350 fleet has completed more than 1.58 million flights on more than 1,240 routes, transporting more than 400 million passengers with one hull loss in an airport-safety-related incident. It succeeds the A340 and competes against Boeing's large long-haul twinjets, the Boeing 777, its future successor, the 777X, and the 787 Dreamliner.

Airbus A350

A350-900 variant

The A350-900 (ICAO code: A359) is the first A350 model; it has a MTOW of 283 tonnes (624,000 lb), typically seats 325 passengers, and has a range of 8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi). Airbus says that per seat, the Boeing 777-200ER should have a 16% heavier manufacturer's empty weight, a 30% higher block fuel consumption, and 25% higher cash operating costs than the A350-900. The -900 is designed to compete with the Boeing 777-200LR and 787-10, while replacing the Airbus A340-500 and Boeing 777-200ER.

A proposed A350-900R extended-range variant was to feature the higher engine thrust, strengthened structure, and landing gear of the 308 tonnes (679,000 lb) MTOW -1000 to give a further 800 nmi (1,500 km; 920 mi) range.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) will replace its A340-300 with an A350-900HGW ("high-gross weight") variant available from 2017. It will enable non-stop Manila-New York City flights without payload limitations in either direction, a 7,404 nmi (13,712 km; 8,520 mi) flight. The PAL version will have a 278 tonnes (613,000 lb) MTOW, and from 2020, the -900 will be proposed with the ULR's 280 tonnes (620,000 lb) MTOW, up from the 268 tonnes (591,000 lb) for the original weight variant and the certified 260, 272, and 275 tonnes (573,000, 600,000, and 606,000 lb) variants, with the large fuel capacity. This will enable an 8,100 nmi (15,000 km; 9,300 mi) range with 325 seats in a three-class layout.

In early November 2017, Emirates committed to purchase 40 Boeing 787-10 aircraft before Airbus presented an updated A350-900 layout with the rear pressure bulkhead pushed back by 2.5 ft (1 m). After Emirates' Tim Clark was shown a ten-across economy cabin and galley changes, he said the -900 is "more marketable" as a result.

The average lease rates of the first A350-900s produced in 2014 were $1.1 million per month, not including maintenance reserves amounting to $18 million after 10–12 years, and falling to $940,000 per month in 2018 while a new A350-900 is leased for $1.2 million per month and its interior can cost $12 million, 10% of the aircraft. By 2018, a 2014 build was valued $108M falling to $74.5M by 2022 while a new build was valued for $148M, a 6+12 year check cost $3M and an engine overhaul $4–6.5M.

Qatar Airways was the launch operator of the A350-900

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its largest in terms of total passengers and number of departures. With its regional subsidiaries and contractors operating under the brand name Delta Connection, Delta has over 5,400 flights daily and serve 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance which helps to extend its global network. It is the oldest operating U.S. airline and the seventh-oldest operating worldwide.

Delta Air Lines A350

Delta ranks first in revenue and brand value among the world's largest airlines, and second by number of passengers carried, passenger miles flown, and fleet size. Listed 70th on the Fortune 500 list, Delta has topped The Wall Street Journal's annual rankings of airlines in 2022, 2023, and 2024 and earned first place in the 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Airlines in the U.S. by Condé Nast Traveler.

History of N527DN

N527DN is an A350-900 manufactured in Toulouse. First flight is on 20 February 2025.

The aircraft was then transported by ferry from Toulouse to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport on March 28, 2025, and delivered to Delta Airlines on March 25, 2025 in a special "100 Years" livery.

N527DN before delivery to Delta Air Lines with test registration F-WZNK

N527DN with special "100 years" livery

That's it! Have fun!