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Ethiopia celebrates taking delivery of 1st Airbus A350XWB

Xinhua, June 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ethiopian Airlines on Wednesday celebrated taking delivery of the first Airbus A350XWB in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian on Tuesday took delivery of the aircraft in Toulouse, France, and it has become the first African airliner to receive Airbus A350XWB, and the first airliner in the world to fly the airplane with the capacity of carrying 343 passengers in the African skies.

Airbus A350XWB intensifies the Ethiopian Airlines' leading position in Africa's aviation industry, said Ethiopian Group CEO Tewolde Gebremariam.

The CEO said the aircraft puts Ethiopia in the highest position in Africa's aviation industry and will enable it to scale up its services.

Ethiopian has named the Airbus A350 XWB after Simien Mountains, a national park in the Amhara Regional State of the East African country, and the Simien Mountains is one of Ethiopia's heritages inscribed in the World Heritage list.

Speaking on the occasion, President Mulatu Teshome of Ethiopia has hailed the Ethiopian Airlines for its being a leading airline in introducing latest technology in the aviation industry.

Workneh Gebeyehu, Ethiopian Minister of Transport, noted that the delivery of the aircraft showcases the attention given for the development of the aviation sector in the country.

The minister hailed the role it plays in enhancing regional economic integration through safe and modern transport system.

Some 350 Ethiopian employees have gathered at Ethiopian maintenance hangar to create an image of the actual A350 aircraft which clearly represents an airplane consisting of a body, two wings, two engines and fins.

"The year 2016 has been truly exciting in Ethiopia. Along with our 70th anniversary celebration, we received Africa's first A350 XWB aircraft, which is our first Airbus airplane in our fleet and another significant milestone in the history of African Aviation industry," said the CEO.

"Today, we are very pleased to magnify our reception ceremony with this interesting event of making the image of Africa's first Airbus A350 XWB. Hence, we are celebrating being the first operator of Airbus A350 in Africa," he added. Endit