A350-800 not cancelled but parked "for the time being" due to less appetite from customers

During the A350 XWB FAL inauguration, Airbus CEO Bregier insists that Airbus will build all three planned versions, even though he admits that customers have “less appetite for the -800,” the smallest variant. “The market will move slightly to bigger aircraft. But we are observing that trend with other models, too,” he says.

Airbus is placing most emphasis on the -900 and -1000 variants of the A350, amid continuing weakness in the backlog for the -800, the smallest aircraft in the family.

Although Airbus envisages the -800 being the second model produced, due to enter service in mid-2016, Didier Evrard said in the FAL inauguration that there is still flexibility in its schedule to advance the -1000 from its entry-into-service date of mid-2017 if required. "The sequence may change depending on the market if there is increasing demand for the -900 and -1000."

However, he says there is no risk of its cancellation "for the time being".

Less appetite from customers is quite optimistic when last order for A350-800 was announced in 2008, “when George W. Bush was president” -as Boeing is fond of pointing out.-

The A350-800  is in the same size class as the A330-300 but has a lighter airframe, more range, and a lower design fuel burn than either the A330-300 or the A330neo. The further the A350-800 is delayed, the better chance for the A330neo. And Airbus is priorizing sales of A350-900 and -1000.