The Airbus A350 has taken off on its maiden flight, setting the stage for intensifying competition with US rival Boeing in the long-haul aircraft market.

Today's flight from Toulouse is to last about four hours and marks a key step on the path to full certification. It is Airbus's first all-new plane in eight years.

The A350 XWB family comprises of three versions which seat between 270 and 350 passengers. The aircraft has been developed to be more fuel efficient than other mid-size long range aircraft. 

More than half of the A350 is made up of lightweight carbon-fibre, designed to save on jet fuel, which makes up about half the cost of long-haul flights. Airbus say the aircraft uses 25% less fuel than competitors, providing an equivalent reduction in CO₂ emissions.

The wings, landing gear and fuel system were developed at Airbus's Filton site, with wings produced in Broughton. 

Key facts about A350 wings:

• The wings are 32m long and six metres wide
• They are the largest single civil aviation parts ever made from carbon fibre composite material
• The design includes droop-nose leading edge devices to make them more streamlined
• New adaptive dropped-hinge flaps increase the plane’s efficiency at low speeds
• To improve high-speed performance the aircraft can deflect its wing flaps symmetrically and asymmetrically to optimise the wing profile, which gives better control of loads along the wing

The A350 XWB is powered by Rolls-Royce's Trent XWB engine, which is a development of the Trent 900 and Trent 1000. Rolls-Royce say the engine is the most fuel efficient large engine design currently available, with 28 per cent better fuel efficiency than pre-Trent generation engines.

The Trent XWB has a thrust of up to 93,000lb and uses an updated version of Rolls-Royce’s existing three-shaft architecture. Design features of the engine include blisks, contra-rotation, low hub-tip ratio swept fan and new materials technology. According to Rolls-Royce  the engine  also incorporate the latest noise and emissions reduction technology.

An international crew of six is on board the first flight, comprising two flight test pilots, one test flight engineer and three flight test engineers. It marks the beginning of a test campaign that will involve 2,500 flying hours and a fleet of five development aircraft. The tests will lead to the certification of the A350-900 variant by the European and US airworthiness authorities.

Boeing is still recovering from problems with the lithium batteries on its 787 Dreamliner, and Airbus hopes to challenge its lead in the lucrative long haul market with the A350 XWB.

Tom Enders, chief executive of Airbus parent company EADS, said: “The first flight is a very special moment in an aerospace company.”

The aircraft is due to enter into service in the second half of 2014. Airbus has 613 firm orders for the aircraft from 33 customers worldwide.