A350 or Boeing 787? Cockpit window mask, wingtips and nose

A modern twinjet with long, slender wings sets up for landing, the livery is dark and elegant, the fuselage wide – and at the fence the debate begins: A350 or Dreamliner? No wonder, because both types belong to the same generation, are made mostly of carbon fiber, have similar dimensions and often fly for the same airlines. This guide shows you which features let you reliably tell the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 apart, which features only seem to help and how to determine the exact variant afterward.

The short answer

The most reliable way to tell the A350 and 787 apart is through four features: the A350 wears a black mask around the cockpit windows, the 787 does not. The A350 has six cockpit windows, the 787 only four. The A350’s wingtips curve upward, while the 787’s are swept back. And the 787’s engines end serrated, the A350’s smooth. In practice, two of these four points are enough for a reliable identification.

The similarity has a reason. Both types are their manufacturers’ answer to the same question: an economical widebody twinjet with plenty of carbon fiber for long-haul flights. Boeing was first: the 787 flew for the first time on December 15, 2009, and entered scheduled service with All Nippon Airways in October 2011. Airbus followed with the A350-900, which took off in Toulouse on June 14, 2013, and began scheduled service with Qatar Airways in January 2015. The larger A350-1000 first flew in November 2016 and also came to Qatar Airways first in February 2018.

Feature 1: the black mask

The A350’s best-known identifying mark sits right in its face. The cockpit windows are framed by a black-painted area that extends across all six windows. From the front and an oblique front angle, it looks like sunglasses or a raccoon’s eye area – both nicknames are common in the spotter scene. Airbus cites mainly practical reasons: the black area makes maintenance around the windows easier, and according to the manufacturer the dark paint distributes heat more evenly across the glass.

The 787 has no such mask as standard. Its cockpit windows sit directly in the respective fuselage livery, so on most airlines in white. Applied to a photo, that means: if you see dark glasses around the cockpit windows, a Dreamliner is practically ruled out.

Feature 2: cockpit windows and nose

Count the windows – this works even with unusual liveries or unfavorable light, when the mask hardly stands out from the fuselage.

• Airbus A350: six cockpit windows, two large front windows and two side windows each. The windows are curved and follow the round shape of the nose. The nose looks full and round, and the cockpit sits relatively high.
• Boeing 787: only four large cockpit windows. The nose is smooth and drawn evenly forward, with no edges and without the classic Boeing kink. From the side, it looks more pointed and flatter than the A350 nose, almost as if made in one piece.

Among the widebody jets you see at German airports, the four-window nose is a hallmark of the Dreamliner. That is also why it is so helpful in comparison with the 777, as the guide How to tell a Boeing 777 from a 787 shows. You can find an overview of nose shapes of all common types in the article Identifying aircraft types by nose and cockpit windows.

Feature 3: the wingtips

On approach, seen from below, the wingtips are the strongest feature.

The A350 has a curved wingtip: the wing bends gently upward toward the tip, without a hard kink. From the front or obliquely below, it looks like an upward-curved blade. It is not a classic, vertical winglet, but rather a soft transition.

The 787, by contrast, has raked wingtips: the tip is strongly swept back and tapers, but stays in the plane of the wing. Nothing sticks up. From below, the Dreamliner wing therefore looks like a long, sharply tapering saber.

So the rule of thumb is: if the tip bends upward – A350. If it runs out flat and swept back – 787. How Sharklets, blended winglets, split scimitars and raked wingtips differ in general is explained in the guide Winglets, Sharklets and raked wingtips.

Feature 4: engines and chevrons

The fourth feature hangs under the wings. The A350 flies exclusively with the Trent XWB from Rolls-Royce, in different thrust ratings for the -900 and the more powerful -1000. The nacelle is large and ends smooth at the trailing edge.

The 787 has two options: the GEnx-1B from GE Aerospace or the Trent 1000 from Rolls-Royce. Both nacelles carry serrated chevrons on the trailing edge that look like a saw blade and reduce jet noise. In side light, they are easy to recognize even at medium distance.

Family	Engine	Trailing edge of the nacelle
A350-900	Trent XWB	smooth
A350-1000	Trent XWB (more powerful version)	smooth
787-8, 787-9, 787-10	GEnx-1B or Trent 1000	serrated chevrons

If you are learning engines in general too, the guide Identifying aircraft engines gives you the most important nacelle shapes at a glance.

Landing gear: only unambiguous on the A350-1000

With the landing gear, you have to look closely. The A350-900 and all 787 versions stand on two main gear legs with four wheels each – on approach, it looks the same on both. Only the A350-1000 differs: it carries six-wheel bogies, that is three axles one behind the other per leg.

If you see six wheels per leg and a black mask, you are therefore very likely looking at an A350-1000. With four wheels, the landing gear does not help with the question of A350 or 787. The logic of the different landing gear configurations is explained in the guide Landing gear as an identifying feature.

The traps: length, wing flex and livery

A few features feel good but mislead with this pair.

Fuselage length: At around 67 meters, the A350-900 is almost exactly as long as the 787-10 at around 68 meters. The 787-9 at around 63 meters is not far below either. Only the short 787-8 and the long A350-1000 clearly stand out.

Variant	Length (approx.)	Wingspan (approx.)	Wheels per main gear leg
787-8	57 m	60 m	4
787-9	63 m	60 m	4
A350-900	67 m	64.8 m	4
787-10	68 m	60 m	4
A350-1000	74 m	64.8 m	6

Wing flex: Both wings are made mostly of carbon fiber and visibly flex upward in flight. On the Dreamliner, the effect is famous – in the ground load test in 2010, the wings bent upward by around 7.6 meters. But the A350 wing also looks clearly bent in flight. So flex is not suitable as a distinguishing feature.

Livery and airline: Many airlines fly both types in parallel, including Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways. So the colors reveal nothing about the type.

Fuselage width: At just under six meters outer diameter, the A350 is somewhat wider than the 787 at around 5.8 meters. In a single image in the sky, you cannot see that, at most side by side on the apron.

Special case A330neo: the second mask

Because the A330neo adopted the black mask, spotters often confuse it with the A350. For the question “A350 or 787?”, that matters because an A330-900 on approach can easily look like a modern long-haul jet. Three clues help:

• Cockpit shape: The A330neo has the classic Airbus nose of the A330, and the mask follows its more angular window contours. The A350 windows look larger and more strongly curved.
• Wingtips: The A330neo carries Sharklets that rise clearly upward from the plane of the wing. On the A350, the transition is softer.
• Landing gear: The A330 has no center gear between the main gear legs but, like the A350-900 and 787, two four-wheel legs. So here the nose helps more.

Separating the A330neo from the 787, on the other hand, is easy: mask, six windows, smooth engine ends and Sharklets clearly speak against the Dreamliner. In Germany, you encounter the A330-900 at Condor, for example. Telling the older A330 from its four-engine sister is covered in the guide A330 or A340?.

Features compared

Feature	Airbus A350	Boeing 787
Cockpit mask	black-painted border	none (fuselage color)
Cockpit windows	6, curved	4 large windows
Nose	round, strong, high-set cockpit	smooth, drawn out longer, more pointed
Wingtips	curved upward	raked wingtips, swept back
Engines	Trent XWB only, smooth ending	GEnx-1B or Trent 1000, with chevrons
Main landing gear	4 wheels (-900), 6 wheels (-1000)	4 wheels
Wingspan	around 64.8 m	around 60 m
First flight	2013 (-900)	2009 (-8)

After the family: the exact variant

Once the family is clear, it is on to the variant. On the A350 it is simple: the A350-900 has four wheels per main gear leg, the A350-1000 six and a visibly longer fuselage. The wingspan is the same on both, which is why the -1000 looks slimmer and more stretched in proportion.

On the 787, length decides, because nose, wing and engine options are the same on all three versions. The 787-8 looks stubby, almost sturdy. The 787-9 is the most common version and looks balanced. The 787-10 has a strikingly long row of windows ahead of and behind the wing.

When it is close, the type code settles the question. In flight tracking services, the A350-900 appears as A359, the A350-1000 as A35K, and the Dreamliners as B788, B789 and B78X. How to find a specific aircraft by its registration is shown in the guide Tracking aircraft by registration.

Where to see both types in Germany

You practice best where both families show up regularly. Lufthansa operates both the A350-900 and the 787-9 and long based its A350 fleet mainly in Munich. At Munich Airport, you can therefore practice the A350 well, for example from the visitors’ hill (Besucherhügel), where you see widebody jets taxiing and taking off up close – ideal for nose, mask and engines. You can find more on spots and light in the guide Plane spotting at Munich Airport.

At Frankfurt Airport, many foreign airlines with both types are added. Finnair flies the A350 on long-haul, and Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways operate both families. For approach shots from below, where the wingtips are easy to see, the Zeppelinheim viewing platform is a good choice. More spots are presented in the guide Plane spotting at Frankfurt Airport. Which airline sends which type on a given day changes with the schedule and aircraft rotations – check current information before your visit.

What to keep in mind

• Never just one feature. Combine at least two of the four main features before you commit – the mask alone in particular leads into the A330neo trap.
• Use the viewing angle. From the front and obliquely from the front you see mask and windows, from below the wingtips, from the side the chevrons.
• Mind the light. In backlight the mask disappears, and in high sun the chevrons lie in the shadow of the nacelle. The wingtip silhouette, on the other hand, also works in backlight.
• Variants last. Length and landing gear are good variant features but weak family features.

If you are just starting with type identification, the guide Identifying aircraft types for beginners will help. The fundamental differences between the manufacturers are explained in the article Telling Airbus and Boeing apart.

Conclusion

The A350 and 787 are siblings in spirit, but not twins. The A350 shows itself with a black mask, six cockpit windows, upward-curved wingtips and smooth-ending Trent XWB engines. The Dreamliner has a smooth four-window nose without a mask, flat raked wingtips swept back and serrated chevrons on the nacelles. Length, wing flex and airline help little with this pair – the landing gear only on the A350-1000. Anyone who also keeps the A330neo in mind is almost always right at the fence.