Ethiopian Airlines has cemented its position as the largest operator of Airbus aircraft in Africa with the delivery of an A350-1000.
The aircraft, which is also the first A350-1000 in Africa, arrived in Addis Ababa on Tuesday from Toulouse, France, and is the 21st Airbus delivery for Ethiopian.
The aircraft was welcomed at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport with a traditional water cannon salute after a six-hour and fifteen-minute flight.
“We are here to celebrate this monumental occasion in the history of Ethiopian Airlines and the African aviation industry,” said Ethiopian’s Group CEO Mesfin Tasew, as he received the first of four 1000s planes at the Airbus aircraft delivery centre in Toulouse on November 4.
Ethiopian plans to operate the first of the 395-seat aircraft on promotional flights to eight destinations across its network until the arrival of the second plane. Both aircraft will later be deployed on the Washington DC route.
In Africa, West African destinations such as Accra and Lagos are among the candidates for the promotional flights.
Mesfin further explained that Ethiopian will use the increased passenger capacity of the -1000, to meet demand at slot-constrained airports like London Heathrow and Frankfurt, where the larger Business Class cabin is needed to meet demand for the often-overbooked premium product.
The aircraft offers 11 percent more seats than its smaller stablemate, the A350-900. It is configured with 46 Business Class seats (16 more than on the A350-900) and 349 Economy Class seats.
A late adopter of Airbus aircraft, Ethiopian first signed a purchase order for 12 A350-900s at the 2009 Dubai Airshow. This followed prolonged uncertainty over the entry into service of the Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner, which it had also ordered.
However, it quickly ramped up its order book for the A350 with a follow-on order for 10 A350-900s during the Paris Airshow in July 2017. While converting four of the aircraft from that order to the larger -1000, Ethiopian announced a commitment for a further 11 aircraft plus two options, taking its total Airbus order book to 35 aircraft.
To date, the airline, which also recently signed a contract for the construction of a new airport capable of handling 130 million passengers a year, has ordered 124 new aircraft from the world’s major manufacturers.
“A total of 14 additional A350 aircraft are set to join the airline’s fleet in the coming years, including 11 A350-900 and three additional A350-1000. The A350-1000 will provide great operational commonality with the A350-900 fleet, ensuring seamless integration with shared pilots and mechanics, simplifying training and maintenance processes,” said Airbus.
