9 September 2016 © David Eyre
Qatar Airways made the first visit by one of their Airbus A350-900 aircraft to Perth, which was also only the second A350 ever to visit Perth, following a medical emergency diversion to Perth in the early hours of this morning.
A7-ALD (MSN 010), operating flight QR915, departed Adelaide at 9:31pm Adelaide time (8:01pm Perth time) on 8 September 2016 and headed northwest, out over the Indian Ocean near Port Hedland.
At 11:28pm Perth time, about 189 kilometres north of Karratha, the crew chose to divert to Perth due to a medical emergency with one of the passengers.
The aircraft landed on Perth’s runway 21 at 1:17am on 9 September 2016, and parked at Bay 153 at Terminal 1 International to offload the ill passenger.
At 4:01am, A7-ALD took off from runway 03 to continue its journey to Doha, where it arrived at 2:42pm Perth time.
This was the first visit by a Qatar Airways A350 and the second A350 to ever visit Perth.
Qatar Airways ordered 43 of the 315-seater A350-900, and 37 of the 369-seater A350-1000, and the airline’s CEO stated in May 2014 that the A350 would be used on Perth services “from early 2015”, but this did not eventuate.
Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have both stated that they intend to use A350s to Perth in the next few years.
The first A350 visit to Perth occurred on 10 August 2014, when Airbus’ fifth development aircraft F-WWYB (MSN 005) visited Perth as part of route proving trials.
The second A350 ever to visit Perth – flight QR915 was en-route from Adelaide to Doha and when off the northwest coast around 189km north of Karratha, it made a medical emergency diversion to Perth to offload a passenger who was ill. It is seen here approaching runway 21 at 1:17am. It departed Perth at 4:01am to continue its journey to Doha.
Photo © Marcus Graff
The second A350 ever to visit Perth – flight QR915 was en-route from Adelaide to Doha and when off the northwest coast around 189km north of Karratha, it made a medical emergency diversion to Perth to offload a passenger who was ill. It is seen here approaching runway 21 at 1:17am. It departed Perth at 4:01am to continue its journey to Doha.
Photo © Marcus Graff
First visit to Perth. The aircraft made a medical diversion on its way from Adelaide to Doha, and is photographed here at the international terminal bay 153 at 1:28 am.
Photo © Dylan Thomas.
The second A350 ever to visit Perth – flight QR915 was en-route from Adelaide to Doha and when off the northwest coast around 189km north of Karratha, it made a medical emergency diversion to Perth to offload a passenger who was ill. It arrived at 1:17am, and is seen here at Bay 153 at 2:13am. It departed Perth at 4:01am to continue its journey to Doha.
Photo © Ben Cambridge.
The second A350 ever to visit Perth – flight QR915 was en-route from Adelaide to Doha and when off the northwest coast around 189km north of Karratha, it made a medical emergency diversion to Perth to offload a passenger who was ill. It arrived at 1:17am, and is seen here at Bay 153 at 1:57am. It departed Perth at 4:01am to continue its journey to Doha.
Photo © Marcus Graff
The second A350 ever to visit Perth – flight QR915 was en-route from Adelaide to Doha and when off the northwest coast around 189km north of Karratha, it made a medical emergency diversion to Perth to offload a passenger who was ill. It arrived at 1:17am, and is seen here at Bay 153 at 2:09am. It departed Perth at 4:01am to continue its journey to Doha.
Photo © Marcus Graff
The second A350 ever to visit Perth – flight QR915 was en-route from Adelaide to Doha and when off the northwest coast around 189km north of Karratha, it made a medical emergency diversion to Perth to offload a passenger who was ill. It arrived at 1:17am, and parked at Bay 153. It is seen here taking off from runway 03 at 4:01am to continue its journey to Doha.
Photo © Marcus Graff
