The Airbus A350 is one of the world’s most efficient widebody aircraft and is part of the reason why the A380 Superjumbo project failed. It offers significant operational savings compared to previous generation widebody aircraft, but it is not cheap to buy. Airlines often don’t buy aircraft outright, they prefer to lease them from companies that actually own them. So how much does the Airbus A350 cost to buy? Numbers vary significantly due to the specifics of each airline and each aircraft’s configuration (as well as inflation when comparing multiple years). That said, here are some figures about what the A350 costs to buy, operate, and lease.

Airbus’ flagship aircraft

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The Airbus A350 is Airbus’s flagship aircraft, and it competes with the Boeing 777, variants of the 787, and the upcoming 777X in the long-haul market. It cost around $15 billion for Airbus to develop the A350, and it boasts the highest ETOPS certification of any commercial aircraft. ETOPS-370 allows it to fly for 370 minutes or over six hours from the nearest suitable airport, allowing it to cover 99.7% of the Earth’s surface.

The Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range) variant is also the longest-range commercial aircraft in the world. These are used by Singapore Airlines to operate the world’s twin longest nonstop flights from Singapore to New York-JFK and Newark Liberty Airport.

“The two versions, the A350-900 and the longer fuselage A350-1000, fly efficiently on any sector from short-haul to ultra-long-haul routes up to 9,700nm, carrying 300-410 passengers in typical three-class configurations, and up to 480 passengers in a single-class layout.” – Airbus

In 2024, far more than the 348 commercial aircraft Boeing managed to deliver, including 54 new A350 deliveries. While Airbus managed to deliver more commercial aircraft overall from the previous year (766 vs. 735), it delivered fewer A350s. It managed to deliver 64 A350s in 2023.

According to Airbus’ latest January 2025 report, it has received orders for a total of 1,363 A350s. Of these, 644 have been delivered, and 643 are in its backlog, meaning Airbus has delivered half of the total A350 orders it has received to date.

The A350 is the world’s newest clean-sheet widebody aircraft, and it offers significant savings compared to previous aircraft generations. It utilizes 53% composite materials by weight in its airframe, enabling the aircraft to be significantly lighter. It also adds to the aircraft’s strength and durability.

Cost of Airbus A350

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IBA lists the market price of commercial aircraft, including the A350. The company says it is “a world-leading aviation intelligence and advisory company with award-winning expertise in all aspects of the aviation industry.”

IBA notes the slow ramp-up of new widebody commercial aircraft combined with a lack of good airworthy aircraft in the market and supply chain issues have caused the market value of midlife widebody aircraft to increase over the last year.

“The Airbus A350 family has been enjoying growing demand receiving a large number of orders. The A350-900 exhibited relatively strong market value Performance in the last 12 months. The A330-900 showed the strongest recovery in market values amongst new-generation widebody aircraft.” – IBA

The A350-900 first entered service in 2015, and in 2018, the unit cost of the A350-900 was $317.4 million, while the A350-1000 was $366.5 million. Axon Aviation Group now lists the price of the A350-900 as $308 million and the A350-1000 as $356 million, suggesting they may have dropped in price.

A significant amount of the cost of any commercial aircraft is its engines. The A350 is powered exclusively by the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine, and a pair are estimated to cost between $25 and $35 million.

Axon Aviation Group lists the price of the world’s current fleet of widebody aircraft. It is unclear why it lists the price of the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8 as these aircraft are out of production.

The cost of purchasing these aircraft varies with a range of options selected by the airline. Prices may be influenced by the quantity purchased, financing options, aircraft configurations, and much more.

New Airbus A350-900 leasing rate

The typical monthly lease rate for a new A350-900 is a little more than a new 787-9 Dreamliner. While it costs around $1.05 million to lease a new 787-9, it costs around $1.14 million to lease an A350-900.

The 787-9 and A350-900 are both efficient, current-generation aircraft. It is significantly cheaper to lease previous-generation widebody aircraft. For example, a 12-year-old 777-300ER costs around $450,000 a month, while a 12-year-old A330-300 costs around $330,000 a month.

Widebody monthly leasing rates:

• New 787-9: $1.05 million (current generation aircraft)
• New A350-900: $1.14 million (current generation aircraft)
• Midlife 777-300ER: $450,000 (previous generation aircraft)
• Midlife A330-300: $330,000 (previous generation aircraft)

Comparing with the cost of military aircraft

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Comparing the A350 commercial aircraft to military aircraft, the flyway cost of an F-35 Lightning II fighter jet (the world’s most advanced fighter) is between $88 and $120 million. The cost of the US Air Force’s new B-21 Raider stealth strategic bomber is estimated to be as much as $700 million per unit. So, for the price of an A350, one would buy three F-35s, or for the price of two A350s, one could buy one B-21 bomber.

Two of the most expensive aircraft in the world are the two 747-8s Boeing is building to replace the United States Air Force’s VC-25A (aka Air Force One). Boeing signed a fixed contract to deliver these aircraft for a cost of $3.9 billion. However, it’s reported that Boeing is now taking around $2 billion in losses on the aircraft. That suggests these aircraft could cost around $6 billion or around $3 billion each. The cost of almost 10 A350-900s.

Even this is eclipsed by the contractor, SNC, being awarded a $13 billion contract to replace the Air Force’s four E-4B Nightwatch “Doomsday” planes. While the contractor has purchased five ex-Korean Air 747-8s, it may replace them four for four. That would imply these aircraft will cost around $4.2 billion each.

One major caveat in these numbers is that they are not set in base-year figures, meaning the time value of money is not necessarily adjusted for. Boeing’s expected Air Force One deliveries are expected to be completed in 2028, while SNC will not complete the Doomsday plane replacement until around 2036.

Maintenance costs of the A350

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Simple Flying has previously reported that, per data from 2021, the A350-900 costs around $22.81 per seat hour. Airbus claims it reduces the maintenance costs by 25% compared to the older 777-200 while also offering a 34.8% range improvement.

“The A350 Family has been designed using 70% advanced materials ensuring the lowest OWE per seat, directly contributing to the Family’s 25% fuel burn advantage.” – Airbus

Airbus says the A350 is a clean-sheet design “from nose-to-tail and wingtip-to-wingtip.” Its advanced materials give the aircraft an “extensive weight delta advantage.” The planemaker asserts that it provides airlines with 25% lower operating costs for operators in the upper widebody market segment.

Assuming a flight distance of around 5,000 nautical miles, the A350-1000 burns around 6.03 kg/km (21.4 lbs/mile) and offers around 2.39 L/100km per PAX Seating Capacity (typical multi-class layout of 350 seats). This makes it very similar to the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, adjusting for the Dreamliner’s lower seating capacity.

Cost of narrowbody aircraft

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According to IBA, when it comes to narrowbody aircraft, the A320neo and the 737 MAX 8 remain dominant in the market. IBA offers different prices than the list price given by Axon Aviation Group because it offers the market price. It says the market value of these narrowbody aircraft is around $55 million. The A321neo is valued at around $64 million.

It also says the lease rates for narrowbody aircraft like the A320neo and the 737 MAX 8 are around $400,000 per month. The more valuable A321neo is leased at around $460,000 monthly.

The Airbus A350 is one of the world’s most expensive aircraft, costing around $300-350 million to purchase and around $1 million a month to lease. While these aircraft are expensive, they cost far less to operate and maintain compared to previous-generation aircraft like the A380 and the 777-200. However, the circumstances and specifics of different airlines and the options they select vary. The exact costs of these aircraft are extremely complicated, so all numbers should be taken as approximate.