Ethiopian Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.
The airline’s first aircraft arrived in Addis Ababa on June 29th, 2016.
Ethiopian Airlines is the first African airline to get the A350 and has ordered 14 Airbus A350 in total.
Ethiopian will operate its A350-900s with a two class layout with a total of 343 seats comprising 30 in Business Class and 313 in Economy Class.
The Cloud 9 Business class cabin will be outfitted with state of the art diamond fully lie – flat seats in a 2x2x2 HVH configuration, offering superior comfort and privacy for its premium passengers.
Economy passengers will also enjoy wider and more comfortable seats with increased leg room.
All seats are fitted with the latest high – definition touchscreen personal monitors and a greater selection of movies, television series and audio channels. Inflight Wi-Fi connection will be made available on this aircraft in the near future.
The carrier will deploy the aircraft on its expanding route network connecting Addis Ababa with destinations in Asia and America.
Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines,Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam:
“We are very pleased that Ethiopian has taken the leadership role in Africa and has become among the few leading airlines in the world to invest in this latest technology. Operating the youngest fleet in the industry with modern and comfortable customer features in cabin is one of the four pillars of our vision 2025 15 year strategic road map and the introduction of the A350 is a major component of this strategy. We have made sure that our aircraft is designed and configured to surpass the expectations of our customers.
“The Airbus 350 XWB will enable us to further expand our service quality especially on our long haul flights and strengthen our connectivity whilst emitting the lowest possible carbon emission to our planet – truly The New Spirit of Africa.”
The A350 XWB features the latest aerodynamic design, carbon-fibre fuselage and wings, plus new fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. Together, these latest technologies translate into unrivalled levels of operational efficiency, with a 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn and emissions in addition to significantly lower maintenance costs.
The spaciousness, quietness, beautiful interior and mood lighting in the cabin contribute to superior levels of comfort and well-being, setting new standards in terms of flight experience for all passengers.
To date, Airbus has recorded a total of 802 firm orders for the A350 XWB from 42 customers worldwide, already making it one of the most successful widebody aircraft ever.
N.B. Image credit: Airbus
