Air China has become the first mainland Chinese carrier to take delivery of an Airbus A350, after the airframer secured Chinese validation of the type's certificate in mid-July.
The state-owned carrier took delivery on 8 August of the -900 variant, which is configured with 312 seats across three classes. It has 32 seats in business, 24 in premium economy, and 256 in economy. In the initial stage, the aircraft will be deployed domestically, before flying internationally.
Air China's delivery, on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2018, is significant in Chinese culture, where the numeral '8' is considered to represent prosperity and good fortune.
Airbus
An image released by Airbus indicates the aircraft's serial number is 167. Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that this aircraft will carry the registration B-1086. The airline also has nine other A350-900s on order.
Fleets Analyzer also indicates that Sichuan Airlines is set to be the next Chinese operator to receive the A350-900, which bears the registration B-301D (MSN60).
Source: Cirium Dashboard
