See the Airbus A350 in Sydney on August 5

The Airbus A350 visits Sydney today,  on Tuesday August 5, as part of a worldwide tour to test the aircraft ahead of its commercial debut at the end of this year.

The next-generation jetliner will land at Sydney Airport around 6am, and is scheduled to fly out at 2pm.

(Auckland is the A350's next stop: it's expected to tap the tarmac at 7pm that same Tuesday and hang around until 3pm on Wednesday, August 6, then it's off to to get a look at Airbus’s newest aircraft before it jets off for South America.)

While there will be no public access to the A350 during its Sydney stopover, and certainly no joyrides, airline representatives and members of the media – including Australian Business Traveller - have been invited "to take a very close-up look" at the A350 on the ground.

Sydney Airport advises that the best vantage point for members of the public to see the A350 will be on Ross Smith Avenue near General Holmes Drive.

For a peek inside the A350, check out our walkthrough of the first passenger-ready A350 and our first-hand report from on board the A350's flight test earlier this year.

Read: Airbus A350 takes flight

Sydney will be just one of fourteen stops for the A350 on a 'world tour' which will also take in Auckland, Perth, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Read: Airbus A350 begins 'world tour' of 14 cities

Airbus seeks Aussie A350 order

Airbus is keen to add an Australian airline to the A350's growing order book, with both Qantas and Virgin Australia indicating interest in the the advanced fuel-efficient jet.

While Qantas retains 50 options on the Boeing 787 and has aligned its future fleet with the 787-9, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce last year also cited the A350 – alongside the Boeing 777X – as a potential replacement for its ageing fleet of Boeing 747 jumbo jets in what he called "the next big decisions" for the airline's international fleet.

The next big decisions for Qantas International include an A350/B777X choice

Read: Qantas mulls Airbus A350, Boeing 777X to replace Boeing 747s

Virgin Australia has also name-checked the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 as the big birds in its post-2017 fleet, but Vigin CEO John Borghetti has yet to make what in early 2013 he called "more an end-of-year decision."

"We don’t have to rush into this" Borghetti told Australian Business Traveller at the time.

"We’re talking about fleet composition beyond 2017. Admittedly we have to make a call soon, but we’ve still got a year or so up our sleeves."

Read: Virgin Australia’s big call for 2013: Boeing 787 or Airbus A350? 

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David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.