On March 17, 2016, Brazilian carrier TAM Airlines brought their new Airbus A350 to Miami International Airport, marking their first international service with the airplane. Operated as TAM 9601, the airplane arrived at Miami following a flight from Sao Paulo Guarulhos, Brazil early Thursday morning. Upon arrival at around 7:15 a.m., the milestone flight was greeted with a water cannon salute.
Starting our day with the arrival of this beauty! The @TAMAirlines A350 has our sTAMp of approval. #avgeeks pic.twitter.com/QCqQhPzof3
— Miami Int’l Airport (@iflymia) March 17, 2016
Registered as PR-XTA, this aircraft was delivered new to TAM on December 18, 2015. Revenue passenger service began in early 2016 between Sao Paulo and Manaus, Brazil. According to Airbus, this is TAM’s first A350, however, the carrier has an additional 27 on order. 15 of these are A350-900s, while the remaining 12 are the next generation A350-1000s.
The airline already flies to Miami several times per day, however, Thursday’s milestone flight is cause for celebration. Not only is TAM one of the very few carriers currently operating Airbus’ newest airplane, they are the first A350 operator of the Americas.
