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Link Airbus's next-generation A350 plane takes off from Toulouse-Blagnac airport, southwestern France, on its first test flight on June 14, 2013. Photo: AFP

Cockpit windows of an Airbus 350, produced by a unit of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Company, following its first flight in Toulouse, France. Photo: Bloomberg

A crowd watches as the crew emerge from an Airbus A350 following its first flight. Photo: Bloomberg

A pilot waves a flag after the landing of the new Airbus A350 at Toulouse-Blagnac airport, after its maiden flight in southwestern France. Photo: Reuters

A mock-up of an Airbus SAS A350 aircraft cockpit stands on display prior to the opening of the Paris Air Show in Paris, France. Photo: Bloomberg

The new Airbus A350 lands at Toulouse-Blagnac airport after its maiden flight in southwestern France. Photo: Reuters

The new Airbus A350 flies over Toulouse-Blagnac airport during its maiden flight in southwestern France. Photo: Reuters

The flight test crew, Peter Chandler, Patrick Du-Che, Guy Magrin, Emanuele Costanzo, Fernando Alonso and Pacal Verneau wave to people after the first maiden flight of the Airbus A350 at Blagnac airport near Toulouse. Photo: AP

The A350 cabin's architecture features smooth lines.

Dreamliner rival ... an artist's impression of the planned Airbus A350 XWB.

Airbus claims passenger comfort is optimised in all classes of service in the A350 XWB?s spacious, bright and airy cabin.

The A350 XWB?s cockpit features six very large LCD screens.

Airbus' 18 metre-long A350 XWB demonstrator fuselage helped validate the production process for this widebody jetliner?s composite airframe .

Airbus says the A350 has unprecedented bin capacity for roll-on luggage.

The large overhead bins can take four roll-on bags.

The lightweight carbon-composite A350 aircraft is Airbus's answer to two categories of Boeing long-haul jet: the 787 Dreamliner, which pioneered the large-scale of fuel-saving materials, and the more traditional metallic but still popular 365-seat 777.

The tail for the new Airbus A350 is transported at the new assembly plant in Toulouse. Photo: Airbus

The flight deck of the A350 ... Airbus says the A350 will take to the skies in the summer of 2013 and enter service in the second half of 2014, a year later than originally scheduled. Three different models of the aircraft will seat between 270 and 350 people.

Airbus says the A350 will take to the skies in the summer of 2013 and enter service in the second half of 2014, a year later than originally scheduled. Three different models of the aircraft will seat between 270 and 350 people. Photo: Bloomberg

On Tuesday last week, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault fought through fog and an air traffic control strike to fly to Toulouse, southwest France, to name the plant after "Father of Airbus" Roger Beteille, a pioneer of twin-engined long haul passenger jets. Photo: Airbus

Even before last week's inauguration, the 74,000-square metre Toulouse plant has been building the first A350 that will never fly but will be shaken apart in stress tests. Photo: AP

The largest variant, the 350-seat A350-1000, will allow Airbus to compete directly with the twin-engined 777 "mini-jumbo". The duel is shaping as the next major aviation battle, with sales of up to 2000 jets at stake over the next 20 years. Photo: Airbus

The lightweight carbon-composite A350 aircraft is Airbus's answer to two categories of Boeing long-haul jet: the 787 Dreamliner, which pioneered the large-scale of fuel-saving materials, and the more traditional metallic but still popular 365-seat 777. Photo: Airbus

A wing for the new Airbus A350. Photo: Airbus

The vertical tail wing of the first Airbus A350 is seen on the final assembly line in Toulouse. Photo: Reuters

The nose section of the first Airbus A350 XWB plane is seen on the final assembly line in Toulouse, southwestern France. Photo: AP

Even before last week's inauguration, the 74,000-square metre Toulouse plant has been building the first A350 that will never fly but will be shaken apart in stress tests. Photo: Bloomberg

Full production of the A350 will now begin in earnest ahead of next year's maiden flight, rising to 10 planes a month by late 2018. Photo: Bloomberg

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Airbus's airliner unit is working on a new variant of its A350-900 wide-body that would allow Singapore Airlines to restore non-stop US flights and regain the record for the world's longest airline sector.

Airbus, which began deliveries of the twin-engine model last year, is working on changes to the cabin layout that would reduce its weight and allow Singapore Airlines to reach New York economically by 2018, said Kiran Rao, the planemaker's executive vice president for strategy and marketing.

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Singapore Air halted near 19-hour direct flights from its home hub to New York in 2013, adding about five hours to the journey with stopovers. Chief Executive Officer Goh Choon Phong said in June there was no commercially viable jet available and that he was pushing both Airbus and Boeing for proposals.

Rao said the A350 should be able to make the trip with 25 percent less fuel burn than older models, at the expense of a less dense layout than the usual 325-seat, three-class A350-900, which could be available "an awful lot quicker than Boeing."

Several other airlines have expressed an interest in such a variant, Rao said, while declining to identify them.

"I can't go into details on the type of layouts they're looking at but it would be a premium service," he said. When Singapore Air last flew to the New York area directly it did so with just 100 business-only seats on a four-engine Airbus A340-500, an arrangement that ultimately proved non-viable.

The route, to Newark in New Jersey, was the longest non- stop commercial air service ever offered at 15,344 kilometers.

Boeing's older 777-200LR -- the longest-range jetliner available today -- can span about 17,000 km, according to the US company, and will be used by Emirates to fly the 13,821 km between Dubai and Panama from February. That flight will become the longest single sector currently flown, beating Qantas Airways' Sydney-Dallas Fort Worth route by about 20 km.

The 777-200LR entered service in 2006 and the last delivery to an airline was more than a year ago in April 2014.

Bloomberg

See also: What Qantas has planned for its Dreamliners

See also: Emirates to take title from Qantas for world's longest route