Airbus Confirms A350 Order

Ethiopian Airlines is strengthening its commitment to the A350 with a new firm order. The African company confirming that it has signed for six more A350-900 jets specifically as part of its own efforts to grow a partnership with Airbus, but also subsequently, as I'm sure you would imagine, expand its international operations. The deal signed on day two of the Dubai Airshow, witnessed by the Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO and Airbus' EVP for sales of their commercial aircraft business. The African company has been a longstanding customer for the A350. The plane is a real common theme in its operations, and that reliance is now obviously slated to grow in the future thanks to the latest firm commitment. The African carrier's operational fleet now has a pretty strong composition, and when I'm focusing in on long-range passenger services, this comprises of both Airbus and Boeing planes. With over 20 A350-900s in service, this model has also recently been complemented by the formal introduction of the high-capacity A350-1000. This allows the airline to serve in-demand cities with finally a larger aircraft type, meaning it can bring more passengers to major global cities than ever before. For Ethiopian Airlines, the strength of its commitment to the A350 family is its second announcement at this year's edition of the Dubai Airshow. On day one of the show, the airline confirmed it would exercise options for the popular single-aisle 737 MAX with a formal order for 11 units. Ethiopian Airlines really reaffirming its position of having the largest Boeing aircraft backlog of any airline in Africa. This all comes as it continues to chart a course for growth and really be the change that Africa needs. In service, according to available fleet data, these average an age of 3.8 years. Since taking delivery of the model, despite some unfortunate circumstances obviously surrounding that fatal accident which led to a lengthy period of groundings, Ethiopian Airlines has done its best to leverage the model to expand its short-to-medium haul network on the Middle East, India, close to its home in Africa, and Southern European services. Keen to hear your take down below in the comments as the Dubai Airshow continues. Thanks for your support. Take care, be safe and I'll see you soon.