Last April 28, Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of the 20th Airbus A350-900 in its fleet, which would be the last of the order placed in 2017. The aircraft is registered as ET-AZN.
The delivery ceremony took place at the Airbus facility in Toulouse (TLS), France. It then flew to Ethiopia, using a 30% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blend, a practice that has become increasingly common as part of the industry’s net zero agenda.
“We are pleased to take delivery of our 20th A350 aircraft from Airbus. This is another historic first for Ethiopian Airlines, as it is our first flight operated with sustainable aviation fuel in cooperation with Airbus,” said Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group.
Airbus A350s at Ethiopian Airlines
It has been seven years since the A350 joined Ethiopian Airlines, when it took delivery of the ET-ATQ in June 2016. The company had originally ordered twelve aircraft during the 2009 Dubai Air Show, with an additional ten A350s added in 2017.
According to Airbus’ monthly order reports, the ET-AZN is the last Airbus A350-900 Ethiopian will receive, at least for now, given that in 2022 it modified its original order for four Airbus A350-1000s, the largest wingspan version of the A350, instead of continuing with the -900s.
The African airline’s Airbus A350-900s are configured with 30 seats in business class and 318 in economy class, for a total of 348 seats.
The A350 is a versatile model for Ethiopian, operating to a variety of regional destinations in Africa, including Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, a link just 1,393 kilometers away from Addis Ababa.
- North America: Toronto (Canada); its longest route with Ethiopian’s A350, at 11,543 kilometers.
- Africa: Moroni (Comoros); Accra (Ghana); Lilongue (Malawi); Abuja (Nigeria); Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo); Cape Town and Johannesburg (South Africa); Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar (Tanzania); Lusaka (Zambia) and Harare (Zimbabwe).
- Asia: Beijing/Capital and Shanghai/Pudong (China).
- Europe: Frankfurt (Germany); Brussels (Belgium); Paris/Charles de Gaulle (France); Milan/Malpensa and Rome/Fiumicino (Italy); London/Heathrow and Manchester (United Kingdom); and Geneva and Zurich (Switzerland).
- Middle East: Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
The widebody fleet also consists of six Boeing 777-200s (LR), four Boeing 777-300s (ER), nineteen Boeing 787-8s and ten Boeing 787-9s.
