Ethiopian Airlines has received its last Airbus A350-900 for the foreseeable future. This new widebody was accepted by the airline on April 28 and arrived at its Addis Ababa terminal the following day, on April 29. In addition to its roughly 20 Boeing jets, the airline will now await delivery of the four Airbus A350-1000s it ordered last year.
Details on the aircraft and delivery flight
The most recent A350-900 operated by Ethiopian Airlines departed Toulouse on April 28 at 21:39 local time. The duration of the jet’s ET9201 flight was six hours and eleven minutes. It then reached in Addis Ababa on April 29 at 04:50 local time.
The aircraft is registered as ET-AZN with serial number (MSN) 611 assigned by the manufacturer. On April 10th, this particular Airbus A350 was observed conducting an engine run and taxi test.
Aviation Flights reported that a total of three test flights were conducted prior to the delivery flight on April 28. The aircraft underwent a total of 8 hours and 27 minutes of test flights.
The final A350-900
According to ch-aviation.com, this is the last A350-900 anticipated to be delivered to Ethiopian Airlines. However, the website indicates that four Airbus A350-1000s are still expected to be delivered.
These extended A350s were officially ordered in July 2022, when four outstanding A350-900 orders were converted into the longer variant. Ethiopian Airlines became the first African airline to place an order for the A350-1000 as a result of the transfer.
Not only Airbus aircraft have not yet been delivered. According to data from ch-aviation.com, the airline is still expecting 17 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and two 787-9 Dreamliners. At the moment of publication, the airline’s fleet consists of 141 aircraft. Nonetheless, this also includes a number of Boeing 777 freighters.
Where do Ethiopian Airlines’ Airbus A350s operate?
Ethiopian Airlines uses its Airbus A350-900s for both long- and short-haul flights. The airline’s fifth-freedom service between Douala, Cameroon and Malabo, Equatorial Guinea places it on the list of airlines with the shortest A350 flights. The airline operates a fifth-freedom flight between Milan-Malpensa and Zurich that is relatively brief.
In the opposite direction, the airline flies as far west as Toronto (via Dublin) and as far east as Beijing and Shanghai. The flight duration from Toronto to Addis Ababa is approximately 13.5 hours, whereas flights from Shanghai and Beijing can last between 11 and 12 hours. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner is used on numerous other long-distance routes.