Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International) has taken delivery of its first A350-1000 following the handing over of B-LXA (msn 118) at a ceremony on Tuesday, June 19.

The Hong Kong-based carrier said in a statement marking the event that for the purposes of crew training, the twinjet would initially be deployed on regional Asian services starting with Taipei Taoyuan on July 1. Thereafter, it will make its intercontinental debut on September 15 with a non-stop flight to Washington Dulles.

Cathay Pacific has twenty of the type on firm order from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) of which eight are expected this year, four next year, with the remainder due from 2020 and beyond. It is also an existing operator of the A350-900 of which it has twenty-two in service at present.