Qatar Airways is set to operate its first Airbus A350-1000 service to London Heathrow as it prepares to receive the aircraft at a ceremony in Toulouse.

The Rolls-Royce XWB-97-powered twinjet is the first -1000 to be handed to a customer.

Qatar Airways says it will use the aircraft on its London Heathrow route on 24 February.

The carrier has configured the -1000 with 327 seats, a 44-seat increase on its 283-seat A350-900s.

It will deploy the larger jet on its QR15 service from Doha. The airline uses a mix of types for this flight; the 24 February rotation was previously scheduled with an A350-900.

The airline has already accepted transfer of title for MSN88, the first of 37 A350-1000s on order with the carrier.

Qatar had taken delivery of 21 of its 39 A350-900s by the end of January this year.

Source: Cirium Dashboard