FIRST AIRBUS A350XWB FOR AFRICA
(Posted 07th June 2016)
Ethiopian Airlines is the first airline from Africa to take delivery of the world’s most advanced commercial passenger aircraft, the Airbus A350XWB.
Registered as ET-ATQ with an Airbus Manufacturers Serial Number MSN 40, will the new aircraft ring in a new era for Ethiopian, which has hitherto be an almost exclusive Boeing airline, apart from some 15 Bombardier Q400NextGen’s serving domestic and near regional routes on low density departure times.
Powered by two Rolls Royce Trent engines will the aircraft be able to operate nonstop to even the furthest ET destinations and the unparallelled cabin comfort will no doubt see demand for flights with this plane grow in leaps and bounds. The first such aircraft, according to unconfirmed information, will be deployed from the 01st of July on the route from Addis Ababa to Abjuja, Nigeria’s capital, no doubt aimed to impress this key African market place to travel with Ethiopian rather than other carriers.
Ethiopian has 12 such aircraft on order but is mulling over the idea to up the order to 25 aircraft.
Happy Landings to the aircraft, crews and passengers in months and years to come!
