Airbus scores a major commercial win with Ethiopian Airlines’ A350 XWB firm order
Ethiopian Airlines’ acquisition of 12 A350 WXBs, which was confirmed today at the 2009 Dubai Airshow, not only pushed the new jetliner’s total sales past the 500 milestone, it also represented another key commercial win for Airbus.
With this latest success, the Addis Ababa-based airline becomes a new customer by placing its first-ever aircraft booking with Airbus.
“The A350 will serve our market well, and I think this initial order will be the beginning of a very long relationship with Airbus,” said Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake during an afternoon press conference at the air show. “It is a very good start for a long journey together.”
Ethiopian Airlines is the A350 XWB’s 32nd customer, reinforcing the value of this extra widebody aircraft for operators worldwide – which include small, medium and major airlines, along with leasing companies and VIP clients. These customers are located in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, North America and Latin America, and their total 505 orders have been logged in less than three years from the A350 XWB’s industrial launch in December, 2006.
In addition to Ethiopian Airlines, the A350 XWB’s orders have come from Aer Lingus, Aeroflot, Afriqiyah Airways, AirAsia X, Air One, Alafco, Asiana Airlines, Bangkok Airways, China Airlines, CIT, DAE Capital, Emirates, Etihad, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, ILFC, Kingfisher Airlines, Libyan Airlines, MAZ Aviation, AWAS, Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Synergy Aerospace, TAM, TAP, Tunisair, US Airways, Vietnam Airlines and Yemenia – along with two VIP customers.
More than half of all A350 XWB orders booked to date are for the A350-900 version. This is the cornerstone aircraft of a jetliner family that accommodates from 270 to 350 passengers in typical three-class layouts, and offers the same long-range route capabilities of 8,300 naut. mi./15,380 km. The A350-900 is sized for 314 passengers, while the A350-800 version accommodates 270 seats, and A350-1000 carries 350 passengers.
