Qatar Airways to receive first A350 plane on Dec 13

Qatar Airways and Airbus have announced the date of the official delivery of the first of its 80 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft on order, set to take place in Toulouse, France.

The A350 XWB will be handed over to the Doha-based carrier on December 13 with the first commercial service scheduled in the new year.

The A350 is made with carbon composite fuselage and is a direct competitor to Boeing's composite 787 Dreamliner.

In a statement, Qatar Airways said its first A350 XWB will be deployed on the Frankfurt route from January 2015.

Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: “The delivery of our first A350 XWB aircraft, as global launch customer, is a highly anticipated event in the relatively young history of Qatar Airways and the second significant fleet milestone for our airline, having recently taken delivery of our A380 aircraft.

“Qatar Airways is committed to offering our passengers the very best five-star experience when it comes to travelling, not only in terms of the custom-built comfort features across all of our cabins and the service on board, but with the investment and expansion of our modern fleet.

"The arrival of this new generation of aircraft type represents a moment of great symbolic national pride for the State of Qatar, and I know its delivery will be met with excitement at its new home Hamad International Airport, which was built for advanced aircraft types such as this.”

Qatar Airways currently flies twice-daily to Frankfurt, and the double pairings will both be operated by an A350 on the route.

The aircraft offers a total of 283 seats including 36 seats in Business Class and 247 in Economy.

Qatar Airways has 80 Airbus A350s on order, and expects to induct the first eight production aircraft into its fleet before 2015 year-end.