Airbus partner, Spirit AeroSystems, has completed the curing of one of the panels that make up the longest section of the A350 XWB's all carbon fibre fuselage. The 19.7 metre long, 77 square metre centre fuselage "crown" panel was cured at Spirit's Kinston, North Carolina (USA) site. In the coming weeks, the panel will undergo trimming, drilling and non-destructive inspection.

This latest A350 XWB industrial milestone illustrates the sound progress being made as the first components for the first aircraft are being manufactured both at Airbus and Airbus' partners' sites around the globe. Another recent production achievement for the A350 XWB was the successful cure of the first forward fuselage section crown panel that took place in Nordenham (Germany) in September by Premium Aerotech.