Africa's First Airbus A350 XWB named The Simien Mountains

    NEW YORK, NY, June 21, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Ethiopian Airlines, the leading airline in connecting Africa with the rest of the World, continued its aviation technology leadership with yet another first African Airbus A350 XWB. In its successful 70 years of history, Ethiopian has so many firsts in African aviation industry. The A-350 XWB will be the first airbus aircraft in Ethiopian fleet and the first of its kind in Africa.

All seats are fitted with the latest high-definition touchscreen personal monitors and a higher selection of movies, Television series and audio channels. Inflight Wi-Fi connection will be made available on this aircraft in the future. Passengers with smart devices can connect to the world while others can use the smart individual touch screens on their seats when the internet service goes operational.

Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam said, "We are very pleased that Ethiopian has taken the leadership role in Africa and has become among the few leading airlines in the world to invest in this latest technology and efficient flying machine. Operating the youngest fleet in the industry with modern and comfortable customer features in cabin is one of the four pillars of our vision 2025 15 years strategic road map and the introduction of the A-350 is one component of this strategy. We have also made sure that our aircraft is designed and configured to surpass the expectations of our customers. Africa's first A350 will provide new features such as wider seats in both Business and Economy Classes, the lowest twin engine noise level, advanced air conditioning technology and full LED mood lighting to enhance the comfort while reducing fatigue after a long flight."

"The Airbus 350 XWB will enable us to further expand our service quality especially on our long-haul flights and strengthen our connectivity and herald with the least carbon emission to our planet 'The New Spirit of Africa' to the world," Mr. Tewolde added.

The A350 XWB's innovative technology improves performance in operation. Its revolutionary airframe and simplified systems have optimized fuel burn, maintenance costs and reliability, and its engines have the lowest carbon dioxide CO2 emissions of any in the wide body category.

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing airline in Africa. In its seven decades of operations, Ethiopian has become of the continent's leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.

Ethiopian commands the lion's share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to 92 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, Bombardier Q-400 double cabin with an average fleet age of five years. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft.

Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centres: Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.

For more information about this press release, please contact [email protected] or:

Mrs. Hanna Atnafu
Manager Corporate Communications
Ethiopian Airlines
Tel: (251-1) 517-89-07/656/165/913/529
[email protected]

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