World's first Airbus A350 delivery set for Dec. 13

The world's first delivery of an Airbus A350 will take place on Dec. 13, launch customer Qatar Airways announced Thursday morning.

The A350 is the newest aircraft model from Airbus. It will be the first entirely new model to be rolled out by the world's two big aircraft makers since Boeing delivered its first 787 "Dreamliner" in 2011.

Qatar Airways will be the first airline to receive the jet and to put it into commercial service. The carrier's first A350 flight with paying passengers is expected to come in January on a route between Qatar Airways' Doha hub and Frankfurt.

"The delivery of our first A350 XWB aircraft, as global launch customer, is a highly anticipated event in the relatively young history of Qatar Airways and the second significant fleet milestone for our airline, having recently taken delivery of our A380 aircraft," Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker says in the statement announcing the delivery date.

"The arrival of this new generation of aircraft type represents a moment of great symbolic national pride for the State of Qatar, and I know its delivery will be met with excitement at its new home Hamad International Airport, which was built for advanced aircraft types such as this," Al Baker adds in the statement.

The A350 — along with Airbus' recently announced update to its A330 widebody — is expected to help Airbus ratchet up competition against U.S. rival Boeing in the long-haul market, where Boeing's 777 and 787 "Dreamliner" models have enjoyed strong sales. Both the A350 and Boeing's 787 are revolutionary models, manufactured with the use of carbon-composite fibers.