Airbus reached a major milestone this week when it delivered its 100th A350 aircraft.

The twin-aisle jet was handed over to China Airlines, becoming the seventh A350 in the Taiwanese airline’s fleet.

China Airlines has now received half of the 14 A350s it has on order, and will deploy the aircraft on long-haul routes to destinations in the US and Europe. The carrier will launch a new direct flight to London later this year.

All of the first 100 A350 deliveries have been the mid-sized A350-900 version, which is 66.9 metres long and can typically carry 325 passengers in a two-class configuration. Two other versions of the A350, the -800 and -1000, are due to be launched in future.

The A350 has been popular with Asian airlines, with Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways, AirAsia X, Vietnam Airlines and Philippine Airlines among the carriers to have placed orders for the jet. China Airlines operates its A350s with 306 seats in four classes.