Ethiopian Airlines celebrated the delivery of its first A350-1000 on Tuesday, as part of a four-aircraft deal with Airbus.
The widebody aircraft is also the first of its kind to be flown by an African carrier.
The new commercial jet is configured with 395 seats in two classes – 46 in business class and 349 in economy.
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This is slightly smaller than the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER, which carries 399 passengers (34 in business class and 365 in economy), but it is a much more fuel-efficient aircraft.
Ethiopian is initially expected to fly the A350-1000 on routes from Addis Ababa to Washington DC, London, Paris and Frankfurt.
Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s largest airline, with a fleet of 134 aircraft, most of which are supplied by Boeing.
The A350, however, broke with this tradition and today the airline operates 20 A350-900s alongside Boeing 777s and 787s.
The carrier also reached agreement for at least eight 777-9.
