Dubai: Airbus has sold its first A350 to a corporate customer, executives responsible for the European plane manufacturers private jet sales confirmed on Sunday.
The unnamed corporate customer will not receive the A350 until 2020, said Benoit Defforge, Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) president, at a press briefing in Dubai on Sunday.
“The first priority for the 350 will be for the [commercial] airlines,” he said.
The widebody aircraft will enter commercial service later this month with Qatar Airways, which plans to fly the aircraft on the Doha-Frankfurt route.
Defforge did not specify which of the three variants Airbus has sold. The A350, offering between 276 and 369 seats, sells from $260 to $340 million (Dh955 million to Dh1.25 billion) at list prices depending on the variant, according to the Airbus website.
Airbus has focused its long-haul corporate sales on its A330 and A340 fleet, of which it has sold 40 to private customers that include heads of state, companies and individuals.
Airbus previously sold an A380 to Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal in 2007. The superjumbo, dubbed “the flying palace,” was later sold in 2012, according to reports.
