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Ethiopian Airlines has become Africa’s first airline customer of Airbus’ flagship A350-1000 aircraft. The carrier confirmed on Thursday that it has upsized four of its existing Airbus A350-900s on order to the larger -1000 variant.

This is not the first time that Ethiopian Airlines has debuted an aircraft in Africa – it was also the first African airline to operate the A350-900 when it took delivery of the type in June 2016.

Today, the Star Alliance member boasts 18 A350-900s in its fleet of 121 passenger aircraft, and it will take delivery of two more A350-900s, in addition to the four A350-1000s. This makes Ethiopian Airlines the joint six-largest operator of the A350-900, together with Air China and Air France. The list is topped by Singapore Airlines, with 53 A350-900s and 7 A350-900ULRs in its fleet.

Ethiopian Airlines agreed a deal with Airbus to upsize four existing A350-900 orders to A350-1000s. Photo: Ethiopian Airlines

While the aircraft manufacturer did not provide a timeframe for the deliveries, Airbus celebrated the agreement with Ethiopian Airlines, with its President - Africa and Middle East, Mikail Houari, stating,

"We are proud of our strong partnership with Ethiopian Airlines - the first airline in Africa to order and operate the A350-900. In another first, Ethiopian Airlines is once again leading the way in Africa’s aviation sector by introducing the A350-1000, the largest version of the world’s most efficient and technologically advanced passenger aircraft."

Ethiopian Airlines and the A350-1000

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mesfin Tasew, marked the deal, saying,

“We are delighted over the upsizing of the A350-900 on order to the largest variant, A350-1000, that helps us stay ahead of the curve in technology. We are the technology leaders in the continent introducing the latest technology and fuel-efficient fleet into Africa. The A350-1000 is the best fit for our dense routes, and we believe that the upsizing will be instrumental in satisfying the increasing demand of customers in our vast global network across five continents.”

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