China Airlines to start A350 XWB flights to Europe in January

China Airlines, which expects to take delivery of its first Airbus A350 XWB by the end of September, will launch its first nonstop service to Europe Jan 9, 2017, the airline said. Once delivered, the new aircraft will first be flown on regional routes such as Taiwan-Hong Kong. From Jan 9, 2017, the A350-900 will replace the A340-300 on nonstop Taipei Taoyuan-Vienna services. The Taipei-Bangkok-Amsterdam route will become nonstop Taipei-Amsterdam A340-300 service starting from December. This aircraft will be replaced by the A350-900 from Jan 9, 2017. Taipei-Delhi-Rome (Fiumicino) A340-300 services will also become nonstop from December onward and will be switched to the new A350-900 from Feb 4, 2017. According to China Airlines, Airbus expects to deliver 4 A350s this year. <br/>