Ethiopian Airlines will receive Africa’s first Airbus A350 -1000 aircraft. The aircraft will be delivered to Africa’s largest carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, this month.

The A350-1000 aircraft (registration ET-BAW), will have a total of 395 seats. Business class will offer 46 seats while Economy class will have 349 seats.
There are currently 87 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft in service with the following airlines :
Qatar Airways – 24; Cathay Pacific – 18; British Airways – 18; Virgin Atlantic – 12; Etihad Airways – 5; Japan Airlines – 5; Air Caraïbes – 3 and French Bee – 2.
ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-1000
Ethiopian Airlines ordered four A350-1000 aircraft in 2022. The first is being delivered this month.
These planes will, in fact, provide the airline with its second-highest seating capacity after Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which offer 399 seats.
ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES FLEET
Ethiopian Airlines’ fleet comprises 135 aircraft in total. Most of these are widebody Boeing aircraft.
However, there are already 20 Airbus A350-900 aircraft in the Ethiopian fleet.
A350-900 ROUTES
Ethiopian Airlines uses its Airbus A350-900 aircraft to serve 29 destinations.
These jets serve 14 African destinations, including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Kinshasa.
In Europe, the aircraft operate on 10 routes London, Paris and Frankfurt.
Ethiopian Airlines operates A350-900 flights to Dubai and Jeddah, while in Asia, the aircraft fly to Beijing and Shanghai.
ALSO READ: Ethiopian Airlines to establish SAF facility
A350-1000 TO OPERATE ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES LONDON FLIGHTS
Aviationa2z reports that Ethiopian Airlines will operate the Airbus A350-1000 on flights between Addis Ababa and London Heathrow – starting on 3 November this year.
The aircraft will fly to London on selected dates in November and December.
ETHIOPIAN’S SOLID LONDON FIGURES
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reports that Ethiopian Airlines carried 19 424 roundtrip passengers from London Heathrow in July this year.
Thus, filling 91% of its 21 266 available seats on its London flights.
Moreover, data suggests that approximately 13 800 passengers (equating to 71%) connected onto other flights in Addis Ababa, reaffirming Ethiopian’s position as a major connecting carrier.
Furthermore, Harare was listed as the top destination for Ethiopian’s passengers coming into and out of London, followed by Hargeisa (Somaliland), Mombasa (Kenya), Lagos (Nigeria) and Blantyre (Malawi).
Significantly, the Harare – London route was listed as Africa’s top unserved intercontinental route in Airbus’s report on Africa’s Top Unserved Air Routes.