The A350 will feature new all-composite wings that will be common to all three proposed variants. With an area of 443 m² (4,740 ft²) it will be the largest wing ever produced for a single-deck widebody aircraft. The geometric wingspan of 64 m (210 ft) is 3.7 m greater than that of the A330 and the original A350. The current biggest twinjet wing belongs to the long-range Boeings 777-200LR/777-300ER, which have 0.7 m greater span but slightly less area. The new wing will have 35 degrees of sweep (5 degrees more than the A330) helping to increase typical cruise speed to Mach 0.85 and maximum operating speed to Mach 0.89. Airbus is currently working on the detail of the wings' aerodynamics and it will not freeze the final configuration until the October 2008 design freeze milestone. A new trailing-edge high-lift system has been adopted with an advanced dropped hinge flap (similar to that of the A380) which permits the gap between the trailing edge and the flap to be closed with the spoiler. The manufacturer has carried out 1800 hours of low-speed windtunnel testing and results have led to a slight reduction of the static engine's thrust due to a better low-speed performance than anticipated. High-speed performance testing has begun at the European Transonic Windtunnel in Cologne, Germany and a final decision regarding winglet configuration is expected soon.Airbus is planning a £570 million (US$760 million) investment to upgrade composite capability at its Broughton site in the United Kingdom, in preparation for its role as final assembly location for the A350 XWB wing.
