State-owned national flag-carrier South African Airways (SAA) has confirmed that it will soon be operating four latest generation widebody Airbus A350-900 airliners. This announcement coincided with the delivery to the airline of the first of these aircraft. The A350-900 airframe is made 53% of composites and 17% of other advanced materials, including titanium.

All four are being leased for three years. The remaining three should be delivered over the next six weeks and all four should be in commercial operation by the middle of December. The first two are each nine months old and have already been operated by another operator, while the second two will be brand new and delivered to SAA directly from the Airbus Final Assembly Line in Toulouse, France.

“We welcome the first A350 home on South African soil,” said SAA acting CEO Zuks Ramasia. “The introduction of the A350s offers a new beginning for the airline and will contribute to the airline’s operational efficiencies, and get SAA back on track. It is an important step-change as we continue to make progress to transform our business and return the airline to financial sustainability in the shortest time possible.”

Each of the A350s is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. These were specifically designed for the A350 XWB airliner family (A350-900 and A350-1000). Part of the wider Trent family of seven engines (SAA already operates the Trent 700 on its Airbus A330 airliners), Rolls-Royce describes the Trent XWB as the most efficient large aero engine in the world.

To date, 1 800 Trent XWBs have been sold, and the engine powers more than 300 aircraft flown by 29 operators. It has accumulated more than five-million engine-flying hours.

“We warmly welcome the arrival of South African Airways’ first Airbus A350, powered by our Trent XWB engines,” affirmed Rolls-Royce VP: customers Ryan Goodnight. “Rolls-Royce has a long and proud history of working with South African Airways and we deeply value our close relationship. The decision to bring A350s to the South African Airways’ fleet ensures our partnership will remain strong for many years to come.”

The SAA A350-900s are fitted with 30 business-class seats (all lie-flat) and 309 economy-class seats. The first six rows of economy class have extra leg-room. The aircraft will initially replace four-engined Airbus A340s on the non-stop Johannesburg-New York route. As the SAA A350 fleet builds up, they will also be used on other routes.