Airbus announced on September 29, 2026 that its first A350F freighter test aircraft, MSN 700, had completed its maiden flight. An Airbus test crew flew the instrumented aircraft for four hours and ten minutes, reaching 25,000 feet.
The flight checked basic airworthiness, handling and core systems. Airbus said the crew began in direct law and activated normal law with flight envelope protection after confirming that measured behaviour matched predictive models. Pressurisation, communications and navigation were also evaluated.
The planned campaign spans approximately ten months and 400 flight hours, aiming for EASA type certification. MSN 700 will concentrate on performance, handling and autopilot tests; MSN 701 will cover systems, smoke detection and hot- and cold-weather testing. The milestone precedes certification, customer deliveries and commercial operations.
The A350F uses Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines. Airbus lists a design payload of up to 111 tonnes and range of up to 8,700 kilometres. At the end of August 2026, it had 115 orders from 14 disclosed customers.
