Airbus breaks new ground in Africa with milestone A350-1000 delivery

The manufacturer reports strong orders for its widebody family ranging from 220-seats in size with the A330-800/-900 up to the 400-seat plus longer-range A350-900/-1000.

In addition, Airbus is taking the widebody freighter market more seriously with the launch of the A350F to rival Boeing’s 777F and 777-8F.

While Airbus has for some time been the market share leader in the narrowbody market as the A320neo family outsells the Boeing 737 Max, recently it has gone ahead in widebodies as well.

“The A350 and the A330neo are having a wind in their sails,” said Wouter van Wersch, Executive Vice-President International at Airbus, speaking in an interview during the Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000 delivery ceremony.

Over the past year Airbus has enjoyed a widebody order market share of over 60%, said van Wersch. In total, over the past 18 months Airbus has received 441 orders for its A330/A350 family including nine customers for the A350-1000 and three customers for the A350F.

Both the A330neo and A350 variants are exclusively powered by Rolls-Royce powerplants, with the Trent 7000 on the A330 and the Trent XWB on the A350.

Airbus has taken 1,340 firm orders for the A350 from 61 customers. Out of these a total of 246 come from carriers in Africa and the Middle East. In Africa, it lists Air Algerie, Afriqyah, Air Mauritius, Egyptair and Ethiopian as customers.

In its data up to the end of September, Airbus said it has delivered 621 A350s to 40 operators, including 88 A350-1000s. It has a backlog of 719 A350s made up of 664 passenger versions and 55 freighters.

The A350F is planned to begin first deliveries in 2026. With a payload of 111 tonnes and the largest main deck cargo door on the market, 15% larger than the Boeing 777F, Airbus says its design will “set a new benchmark” in the air cargo sector.

The larger door was specified following customer feedback as it helps speed loading for long and bulky cargoes, said Bernard de l’Estoile, Senior Director Freighter Marketing at Airbus.

The manufacturer has 55 firm orders, plus 44 options, from 10 customers for the A350F. The aircraft is based on the A350-1000 with a slightly shortened fuselage and will be produced at a rate of 1-2 aircraft per month depending on its sales performance,

The A350F is one of the freighters being evaluated by Ethiopian Airlines as it looks to expand its all-freighter fleet in the coming years.

Fleet commonality will be a significant factor in the airline’s planning as it already operates 20 A350-900s in addition to the four new A350-1000s it will receive in the coming six months.

During the delivery ceremony, van Wersch of Airbus explained what this milestone represents. “This aircraft is going to be an ideal one to support Ethiopian's vision and the country's vision in terms of growth and economic development,” he said, “Ethiopian Airlines has continuously set the standards in African aviation, connecting communities and driving economic progress.”

According to Omar Al Adib, Senior Vice-President Operations at Rolls-Royce, speaking at the arrival ceremony in Addis Ababa: “We are proud to support Ethiopian’s continued growth with engines that provide exceptional reliability, fuel efficiency and environmental performance.”

Rolls-Royce and Ethiopian have also signed a TotalCare services agreement for the Trent XWB-97 engines that will power the four A350-1000s.