British Airways’ First A350 Diverts To Barcelona Amid Bad Weather

A British Airways flight from London Heathrow, destination Madrid, was diverted yesterday (Monday) evening due to heavy storms in the Madrid region.

The aircraft was due to land in Madrid at 20:05 local time. However it was forced to hold around the Madrid area where it remained for 40 minutes before it was finally diverted to Barcelona due to the weather in Madrid.

BA’s first A350 wasn’t the only aircraft diverted to Barcelona. It is expected the aircraft with re-fuel before continuing to Madrid when the weather has passed.
The anecdote with this particular flight is that the BA’s A350 maiden flight was just three weeks ago and is currently flying between London and Madrid in order to train the aircraft’s crew on the new model before it commences long-haul trajectories in under two weeks. While the focus of the Madrid training is on passenger service, yesterday’s diversion was seen as great practise for the aircraft’s pilots. While they are well versed in diversions, it was the first time that they put it into practise with the new plane.