Thai Airways International became the eighth operator of the Airbus A350 XWB when it recently received its first example of the type. The aircraft is on lease from US-based CIT and is the first of a dozen expected to join the carrier, four of which will be purchased directly from Airbus.

Thai Airways has configured its A350-900 with a premium two-class layout with a total of 321 seats, comprising 289 in the main cabin and 32 in Royal Silk Class – the latter complete with fully lie-flat seats. The aircraft will initially operate on regional services between Bangkok and Chiang Mai but will soon be deployed on long-haul flights starting with the Bangkok-Melbourne route.

Caption

Thai Airways’ first A350 takes off on a test flight carrying the trials-registration F-WZGQ. It has since been registered HS-THB and named ‘Wichian Buri’. Airbus