Airbus Updates No.2916

 

Airbus A321	-253NX	9293		B-30F6	China Southern	delivery 06-07nov20 XFW-NQZ-CAN (+ 9477 B-30FW ex D-AVXV)	ex D-AVZL
Airbus A321	-271NXLR	9432		P4-KGD	Air Astana	delivery 07nov20 XFW-NQZ	ex D-AVZR
Airbus A321	-253NXLR	10074		CS-TSI	Azores Airlines	onward delivery 06nov20 NWI-LIS after paint	ex D-AYAK
Airbus A321	-271NX	10115		HB-JPB	Swiss International	delivery 06nov20 XFW-ZRH	ex D-AZAN
Airbus A330	-243	461		OE-IRD	CIT Aerospace	regd 09nov20, parked at HDO	ex EC-LVL
Airbus A330	-243	809		A6-EYL	Etihad Airways	ferried 09nov20 AUH-LETL for onward storage	ex F-WWYB
Airbus A330	-243	832		A6-EYN	Etihad Airways	ferried 10nov20 LETL-AUH after storage	ex F-WWKN
Airbus A330	-323	1318		9M-MTG	Malaysia Airlines	first in svc 04nov20 KUL-RGN-KUL after paint into “Harimau Malaya and Negaraku” cs	ex F-WWYI
Airbus A330	-302	1361		VP-BUM	Nordwind Airlines	ferried 10nov20 DUB-LETL, M-reg for interim storage prior delivery	ex M-ABLV
Airbus A330	-941	1934		PR-ANW	Azul Linhas Aéreas	delivery 05nov20 TLS-CNF "Gigante Azul"	ex F-WWYF
Airbus A340	-642	604		EC-IZY	Iberia	ferried 06nov20 MAD-CDT for part-out & scrap	ex F-WWCH
Airbus A350	-941	412		ET-AYB	Ethiopian Airlines	delivery 07nov20 TLS-ADD "Singapore"(+ 431 ET-AYA "Geneva" ex F-WZNT)	ex F-WZGS
Airbus A380	-861	166		A6-APA	Etihad Airways	ferried 05nov20 AUH-LDE	ex F-WWSG
Airbus Canada A220	-371	55097		C-GMYU	Air Canada	delivery 06nov20 YMX-YYZ

Airbus Updates No.2914

 

Ethiopian Airlines Takes Delivery Of Two Airbus A350s In One Day

Back in 2016, Ethiopian Airlines proudly took delivery of its first Airbus A350. Over the past four years, the African giant has accepted 13 more, and now an additional two have joined the fleet. The two widebodies flew from Toulouse to Addis Ababa early today on November 7th, within minutes of one another, making for another rare ‘double delivery.’

Ethiopian Airlines now has 16 Airbus A350-900 widebodies in its diverse fleet of aircraft. Photo: Mark Harkin via Wikimedia Commons

Double delivery day

On November 7th at 01:35 and 01:39, two brand new A350s left Airbus’ assembly facilities in Toulouse (France) for Ethiopian Airlines’ hub in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The journey took just under six and a half hours and had the aircraft arriving at their new home at 10:00. The two flights were ET9201 and ET9203.

The new jets are registered as ET-AYA (nicknamed ‘Geneva’) and ET-AYB (nicknamed ‘Singapore’). According to AIB Family Flights, the former was first spotted in Toulouse without its engines in March of this year. The latter was first seen in January. Since then, Airbus had been preparing the jets, conducting four test flights, and a fifth customer acceptance flight.

An airplane delivery also loaded with cargo

Similar to Boeing’s Humanitarian Delivery Flight Program, the A350s were loaded with donated humanitarian supplies. The people of Ethiopia have benefitted greatly from this as many Ethiopian Airlines flights have participated in both Boeing and Airbus humanitarian initiatives.

“We have taken delivery of 2 brand-new A-350 aircraft on the same day,we have also donated humanitarian medical equipment brought on-board the delivery flight of these brand-new aircraft to Ethiopian Ministry of Health at a grand event held today at ET Cargo & Logistics Services.” -Ethiopian Airlines via Twitter

The Airbus A350 and Ethiopian Airlines

The A350 is one of the newer types at Ethiopian Airlines. Once a strong all-Boeing jet fleet, the airline decided to diversify and take on Airbus jets as well. The airline now has 16 of the jets, which are all configured to accommodate 30 business class passengers and 318 in economy class.

While the airline is making good use of its Airbus fleet during a time of reduced travel demand, there are two A350s are currently listed as stored – ET-AUB and ET-AVC.

The A350 as a type is actually Ethiopian’s only Airbus jet. All other jets are from Boeing and range from the Next Generation 737 to the 767, 777, and 787.