AVIATION NEWS YOU CAN USE


Ethiopian flies A350 from Heathrow


Ian Taylor in Addis Ababa


Ethiopian Airlines became the first carrier to offer long-haul flights from Heathrow on the new Airbus A350 last week.


The airline’s daily service to


Addis Ababa switched to a 343- seat A350 on August 14, having previously been operated by a Boeing 777.


The A350 is the Airbus equivalent of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with the most up-to-date, fuel-saving technology and latest inflight entertainment, but with a bigger cabin boasting economy seats an inch wider than on the 787.


Ethiopian has configured the


aircraft with 30 flatbed seats in its Cloud Nine business class and 313 seats in economy. The carrier offers onward


flights from Addis to 20 other destinations in Ethiopia and to


another 50 in and around Africa, including the Seychelles. It also flies from Addis to India, southeast Asia and China, including to Bengaluru (Bangalore), Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. Services depart Heathrow


Terminal 2 at 21.00, arriving in Addis Ababa at 06.30 the next day in time for connecting flights. Return flight times to London vary by the day so be sure to check and


TAKE-OFF: Ethiopian has two A350s and a further 12 on order


give clear information. The carrier is a member of the Star Alliance, operates modern aircraft on all its routes and carried more than seven million passengers last year. Ethiopian took delivery of a


second A350 last week and has another 12 on order. It is the seventh airline to fly the A350, which entered service early last year, but only the second after Finnair to operate a schedule from


Heathrow with the aircraft. ethiopianairlines.com


Carrier eyes Manchester and plans to boost twice-weekly Dublin service


Ethiopian Airlines has plans to fly from Manchester as it seeks to expand in the UK and is held back by capacity constraints at Heathrow. The carrier operates a daily


service from Heathrow to its hub at Addis Ababa, with two-thirds of passengers on the route flying to or from destinations outside Ethiopia. Esayas Woldemariam, managing


director of international services, said: “Manchester is in our plans, but we don’t have a definite date. First we need to beef up our Dublin-Addis Ababa service.” Its Dublin flights operate twice a


week, flying on to Los Angeles. Woldemariam described a


Heathrow double-daily service as 22 travelweekly.co.uk 25 August 2016 70


Onwards destinations from Addis Ababa offered by Ethiopian


“an impossibility”, saying: “It is too crowded. There are not the slots.” The airline will launch flights


from Addis Ababa to Hanoi, Jakarta, the Comoros Islands and Windhoek, Namibia, this year, and reintroduce flights to Singapore. Esayas said: “Ethiopia offers


Egypt and Kenya in one, but we are yet to be discovered.”


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