Ethiopian Airlines
took delivery of Africa’s first Airbus A350-1000
(registered ET-BAW) on November 5. Its second example (registered ET-BAX) arrived in Addis Ababa on December 7. The pair is used to multiple destinations. However, while things may change, including unplanned equipment substitutions, the carrier expects more A350-1000 flights to Washington Dulles than anywhere else in its network.
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Ethiopian’s A350-1000s: a summary
The Star Alliance member has only ordered four variants, with the remaining two aircraft expected to be delivered by the end of March 2025.
All four A350-1000s will have 395 seats: 46 in business class and 349 in economy. It is Ethiopian’s second-largest capacity equipment after the 777-300ER (399 seats).
Photo: Airbus
About 12% of seats are in business, a higher proportion than all the other widebodies in Ethiopian’s fleet: the A350-900 (9%), 777-300ER (9%), 787-8 (9%), 787-9 (10%), and 777-200LR (11%).
Given the nature of Ethiopian’s demand and in relation to several other A350-1000 operators, 12% is not much. However, it is compared to most of its widebody fleet.
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For now, the carrier has one route to North America.
Ethiopian to North America
The carrier launched Dulles flights in 1998 aboard the 767-300ER. The appeal of the DC area is obvious: it has the largest volume of Ethiopian diaspora than any metro area in the US, perhaps 75,000 people or more, and the second-largest volume of African immigrants. It is a key target for the airline.
According to OAG information, Dulles and Newark were both served until 2005, although only Dulles was part of its network through 2012 when its first Canadian link began. Ethiopian’s North American passenger network development was as follows:
- 1998: Washington Dulles and Newark (Newark flights ended in 2005)
- 2012: Toronto
- 2015: Los Angeles (flights ceased in 2019)
- 2016: Newark returned
- 2018: Chicago O’Hare
- 2019: New York JFK and Houston (Houston flights ended in 2020)
- 2023: Atlanta
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Washington Dulles is the top market
In 2025, Ethiopian has passenger flights to six North American airports, with up to seven daily departures. Unsurprisingly, Dulles is by far the largest and most important market, and it is the only US and Canadian airport with more than a daily frequency. It is served 11 weekly in two ways:
- Addis Ababa-Dulles (via Rome outbound, non-stop back): daily A350-1000/A350-900
- Addis Ababa-Lomé-Dulles (and vice-versa): four times weekly 787-8
Image: GCMap
What is Dulles’ schedule?
Focusing on Addis Ababa-Dulles, and not its one-stop service via Lomé, it is scheduled as follows, with all times local:
- Addis Ababa-Rome Fiumicino: ET500, 22:50-03:25+1 (6h 35m block time)
- Rome Fiumicino-Dulles: ET500, 04:25-08:00 (9h 35m)
- Dulles-Addis Ababa: ET501, 10:00-07:15+1 (13h 15m)
Photo: Ethiopian
Given Addis Ababa’s high elevation, which reduces take-off performance, the Rome stop is to refuel, change crew, and to ensure a very high payload. Rome is notably shorter than Dublin, where it previously stopped, so the payload from Addis Ababa is greater. There are no fifth freedom rights.
Flights leave Ethiopia at 22:50 and return at 07:15 to maximize two-way connectivity across Africa. The following image for a week in mid-January shows that the 22:50 departure is fed by the largest number of flights from around Africa. Meanwhile, the 07:15 arrival lets passengers connect to the most Africa-wide departures.
Image: OAG
Where Dulles passengers go
According to US Department of Transportation T-100 data, Ethiopian’s Addis Ababa-Dulles route (not the Lomé service) carried 204,000 roundtrip passengers in the 12 months to September 2024. With 239,000 seats for sale, it filled about 85% of seats, with May to August above 90%.
Booking data suggests that approximately:
- 81,000 passengers connected to another Ethiopian flight in Addis Ababa (Dulles-Nairobi was the top origin and destination)
- 65,000 were point-to-point
- 32,000 transited to another flight in Dulles to/from Addis Ababa (Denver-Addis Ababa was first)
- 26,000 transferred to another flight in Denver and Addis Ababa (Columbus-Mogadishu was number one)