Originally Posted by
airsurfer
Why is it called XWB (eXtra Wide Body) ?
The inner cabin width is 5,8m, while the 777 is 5.9m and the 380 6.2 meters wide, so actually the 380 is an XWB.
It is called XWB because originally, the A350 was designed as a relatively cheap upgrade on the A330, with the same cabin width as the A330. When leasing companies and airlines gave an extremely cold response to this half-arsed idea, combined with Boeing concurrently developing the B787, Airbus tossed its original A330 upgrade plans away and basically redesigned an entirely new plane, including with a wider fuselage than the a330 (which wasn't originally intended). This is why they call it XWB....Basically "XWB" refers to the A350 width compared to A330. And it's them basically nodding to their customers who took them to task for just trying to get away with an upgraded A330.
It's playing out that Airbus hit a homerun with the A350, but the path that led here is indeed a bit of an...accident. Their original pitches for the plane design were pretty bad.