Airbus won European safety approval on Tuesday for the A350, clearing the main regulatory hurdle before its newest and most technically advanced jet can start flying passengers.

The European Aviation Safety Agency said Airbus had proved the jet’s airworthiness in more than 60,000 hours of certification work including 250 hours spent with safety inspectors in the air.

EASA’s Executive Director Patrick Ky said “We dealt with a very mature aircraft.”

The version of the certified jet, the A350-900, is designed to seat 314 passengers and is due to enter service with Qatar Airways before the end of the year in direct competition with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

A larger model, the 350-seat A350-1000, which targets the “mini-jumbo” market occupied by the Boeing 777, is due to enter service in 2017 after a separate safety certification process.

Development of a smaller model, the A350-800, has been effectively halted due to weak demand, prompting Airbus recently to upgrade its older A330 to address the 250-300-seat market.