ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Airbus A350 XWB (Xtra Wide Body) on Thuresday arrived at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital as part of its Middle East-Ethiopia demonstration flight.
The A350 XWB is the latest addition to the Airbus product line and will join the Ethiopian Airlines fleet in 2016, which will make Ethiopian the first African A350 XWB operator.
The Ethiopian Airlines said its first Airbus A350-900 is taking shape on the final assembly line (FAL) in Toulouse, France.
The Ethiopian Airlines has ordered 14 A350 XWB of which 12 are directly purchased from Airbus and 2 are on lease from AerCap.
The first of the 14 ordered A350 XWB will be delivered to the Ethiopian Airlines in May, 2016.
Ethiopian says it will deploy the aircraft on its expanding route network linking the East African nation with Asia and America.
Speaking a bit ahead the demo flight, Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of the Ethiopian Airlines Group, said the Ethiopian would be the first African operator of A350 XWB in May next year.
He said the technologically advanced aircraft would enable the Ethiopian to continue leading Africa's aviation in technology.
Reiterating that Ethiopian is the largest and the fastest growing airline in Africa, Tewolde said the Airbus A350 XWB would help it sustain the growth and realize the vision 2025 of the airline.
The A350 XWB will bring a step-change in efficiency compared with existing aircraft in this size category, as it uses 25 percent less fuel and provides an equivalent reduction in CO2 emissions.
To date, the A350 XWB has already won 787 firm orders from 41 customers worldwide.
In its close to seven decades of operations, Ethiopian has become one of the leading carriers in Africa.
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