TAM Airlines, the first airline to receive and operate the A350 XWB in the Americas, has announced the routes that will be operated by the aircraft.
The A350 XWB is expected to arrive in Brazil in December of this year with the first commercial flight scheduled for January 2016 from São Paulo/Guarulhos to Manaus.
In March of 2016, the A350 XWB will commence international operations flying from Miami to São Paulo/Guarulhos and then from São Paulo/Guarulhos to Madrid in April 2016.
“We chose São Paulo/Guarulhos to Manaus as the first route of the A350 XWB so the different areas of the company can get to know this new state-of-the-art long-range aircraft.
“Additionally, it is important for us to have an airplane of this size operating on this route, even in a temporary way, because it is one of Brazil and TAM Cargo’s main air cargo routes,” said Ruy Amparo, vice president of operations and maintenance for TAM.
The future pilots of the TAM A350 XWB will complete 60 days of in-flight and on the ground training to ensure that they are completely familiar with the aircraft.
These pilots currently operate the TAM A330 fleet of aircraft and have been chosen to operate the future A350 fleet due the similarities (commonality) between Airbus products.
These similarities will create efficiencies and reduce costs across operations, training and maintenance.
(http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/tam-reveals-first-a350-xwb-destinations/)
