Ethiopian Airlines reported on Wednesday that they have received the first promised A350-900 aircraft as part of an outstanding order from Airbus. This marks a new chapter for the East African carrier who has now left their stamp in the history books as the first African A350 XWB operator. Ethiopian Airline’s first aircraft which is on lease from AerCap arrived on June 29th, 2016 in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Airlines has ordered a total of 14 Airbus A350 XWBs with twelve of them coming by way of direct order from Airbus. The other two aircrafts are on lease from AerCap.
The East African carrier has plans to deploy the aircrafts as part of its ever-growing route network which connects Addis Ababa with popular destinations in American and Asia. The Airbus A350 XWBs are hailed as the world’s most modern long-haul, wide body jetliners outfitted with a two class layout. The A350-900s has a total of 343 seats with 30 of those comprising the Business Class and 313 Economy Class.
A350-900s boasts a gorgeously spacious interior that promises pin drop quietness and mood lighting guaranteed to make your trip feel reminiscent of a five star hotel. The interior was designed with the explicit purpose of creating superior levels of comfort and well-being because Airbus understand that flying can often times be an uncomfortable and nerve-wracking experience for those who don’t fly regularly. This level of excellence has set new standards in terms of flight experience for Airbus passengers raising the proverbial bar across the entire industry.
The A350 XWB is state of the art and combines the latest aerodynamic design with a ridiculously fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine. Carbon-fibre fuselage and wings help make the aircraft both sturdier yet lighter. Together all of these ingredients translates into a well-oiled machine that is operating at the peak of efficiency levels showing off a 25 per cent reduction in emissions and fuel burn while significantly lowering maintenance costs. Airbus has already received more than 800 firm orders for the A350 XWB from more than 42 customers worldwide which for the record makes it one of if not eventually the most successful widebody aircraft ever released.
