Ethiopian Airlines is celebrating the near arrival of Africa’s first Airbus A350-1000 in what will be a historical moment for the continent and commercial aviation.
Executives from Ethiopian Airlines and Airbus met on November 4, 2024, at Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS) for a special ceremony where ownership of the first A350-1000 was officially handed over to the carrier.
“We are here to celebrate this monumental occasion in the history of Ethiopian Airlines and the African aviation industry,” said Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, during the ceremony.
The new Airbus A350-1000 was due to depart France on November 5, 2024, at 05:01 local time, but was delayed by about an hour, according to FlightRadar24. The aircraft is now due to land at Addis Ababa Bole Airport (ADD) at 14:20.
The new Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000, registered ET-BAW, is the first of four currently on order from Airbus.
Ethiopian Airlines has received Africa’s first @Airbus A350-1000 aircraft from the Airbus company in a ceremony held in Toulouse, France. This brand new aircraft will arrive at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport today.#FlyEthiopian #Airbus pic.twitter.com/XwI1D6Kunj
— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) November 5, 2024
Ethiopian Airlines announced in July 2022, that it had upsized four of its A350-900s on order to the largest variant of the A350 widebody family.
Tasew previously said that he was delighted over the upsizing of the A350-900s on order and the investment in the larger jet would allow Ethiopian flag carrier to “stay ahead of the curve in technology”.
“The A350-1000 is the best fit for our dense routes, and we believe that the upsizing will be instrumental in satisfying the increasing demand of customers in our vast global network across five continents,” Tasew said in July 2022.
According to ch-aviation, Ethiopian Airlines currently operates 20 A350-900s and is awaiting delivery of 11 more.