Which Routes Feature Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000?

Intro

Ethiopian Airlines recently became the first carrier in Africa to take delivery of the largest variant of the A350: the -1000. Throughout the past 6 months, they have since expanded their A35K fleet to 3 aircraft, serving a few destinations around the world.

If you want to read a full review of the product, I have previously reviewed this product, Addis Ababa-London.

A350-1000 Product

Ethiopian Airlines is known for having a lackluster hard product in business class on most of their aircraft (787, 777, A350 (mostly)). However, when Ethiopian Airlines ordered this A350-1000, they went above and beyond to make sure to offer a better hard product, not only in business class, but economy class.

Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000 Business Class Cabin

The Business Class cabin is laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration, across 12 rows, totalling 46 seats between doors 1 and 2. While in economy, there are 349 beautiful seats laid out in a 3-3-3 configuration.

Routes

Now onto the fun part, what routes feature this brand new aircraft?

Well, the thing about Ethiopian Airlines is that even when the aircraft might be scheduled to fly a certain route, aircraft swaps can occur up until an hour or two before departure. However, as of now, these are the destinations that the A350-1000 seems to fly most often.

• Addis Ababa-Lagos (and vice versa)

• Addis Ababa- Accra (and vice versa)

• Addis Ababa-Washington (through Rome on the outbound) (and vice versa)

• Addis Ababa-London (Heathrow) (and vice versa)

In addition, these are some routes which seem to very occasionally get one of the three A350-1000s (ET-BAX, ET-BAY, ET-BAW).

• Addis Ababa-Zanzibar

• Addis Ababa-Kilimanjaro

• Addis Ababa-Paris

However, keep in mind that the routes listed above are not usually listed, but I have seen Paris get switched to an A35K about once a week. If you are looking for a route that is most likely to feature the A35K, look at Accra, Lagos, and DC.

Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000 Business Class

Best Ways To Book

Now I am going to be frank. As much as I love this Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000, Ethiopian Airlines seems to have a tough time filling up the cabin. In my past two flights with this plane from ADD-LHR (and vice versa), the cabin has been 20/46 and 34/46. This means that as a consumer, there are plenty of ways to get in on this product for a good price.

• Bid for upgrade: this is a good way to go if you are on a cash ticket in economy (mileage tickets do NOT work). I have heard reports of people getting away with 400$ bids to ACC/LOS, and 600$ ish to London. This can vary.

• Mileage space: This is a little bit tricky to find on the routes with an A350-1000, but I have seem some space from Accra to Addis Ababa, and the occasional flight from IAD-ADD. United and Aeroplan are some good ways to book these flights.

• Decent cash fares: There are some really good fares from Cairo to many parts of the world through Ethiopian Airlines. I recently found a nice fare from Addis Ababa to Los Angeles for about 2800$, but the cheapest routing I have found is CAI-ADD-LHR one-way for 1091$. Not bad...

This isn't a bad fare at all...

So yeah, take a look at Cairo if you can position.

Final Thoughts

The brand new Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000 is in a league of its own when it comes to the African continent. Offering direct aisle access, great service, and comfortable seats, you can find these three jets routinely flying to Washington DC, London (Heathrow), Accra, and Lagos. Enjoy!