Airbus is undertaking repairs to a British Airways Airbus A350-1000 after the twin-jet was damaged during the last stages of the production process.

The aircraft suffered an “incident”, Airbus confirms, although it has not revealed the nature of the event or the location of the damage.

BA A350 Parked at Shannon Airport | © Paul Morris

Airbus says it is “working with the customer” planning to deliver the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered airliner in December.
A source close with the situation has said that the A350-1000 sustained surface damage while it was situated in a paint shop. The damage came from one of the many pieces of equipment that surround the aircraft in such buildings.

“Airbus has assured us that the aircraft will be fully repaired and delivered shortly,” says British Airways, without elaborating on the circumstances.

The planned and current BA A350 Routes | © Great Circle Mapper

Although the carrier has not identified the aircraft involved, British Airways had been anticipating to receive four A350-1000’s this year. Two have already been delivered and a third is already painted and undergoing flight tests, implying that the fourth, to be registered G-XWBD is the one affected.

British Airways has 18 A350-1000s on order, which will be delivered over the 2019-2022 period. The A350’s have started long-haul services for BA, already serving Dubai and Toronto from London. Plans to send them to Tel Aviv and Bangalore in the coming months have been delayed due to this incident. For January, the airline has replaced the A350 with the 777 to Dubai.

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