“We welcome the first A350 home on South African soil. The introduction of the A350s offers a new beginning for the airline and will contribute to the airline’s operational efficiencies, and get SAA back on track. It is an important step-change as we continue to make progress to transform our business and return the airline to financial sustainability in the shortest time possible,” says Zuks Ramasia, SAA’s Acting CEO.

The first aircraft arrived amidst much excitement with employees welcoming the new acquisition as the latest arrival to boost SAA’s fleet with modern, fuel-efficient aircraft, which presents a superior customer experience.

The aircraft will operate on one of SAA’s ultra-long haul routes between Johannesburg and New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK), replacing the Airbus A340-600 on this route and will still be operated on a nonstop basis. As additional aircraft are introduced, more routes will be operated by the Airbus A350-900s.

Business and Economy Class customers will enjoy the quieter cabin, a more relaxing environment during flight. The Airbus A350-900 is configured with a maximum of 339 seats, of which 30 are Business Class seats and 309 are Economy Class seats, with the first six rows in Economy Class offering extra legroom to provide a more comfortable experience, especially on longer flights. The Business Class cabin has lie flat beds.

The aircraft also offers a modern In-flight Entertainment (IFE) system throughout the cabin.

SAA is set to receive four Airbus A350-900s over a period of six weeks, and all four are expected to operate commercially by mid-December following regulatory approvals and training. SAA will operate the aircraft for three years.

The first two aircraft are nine months old and previously flew commercially with another carrier. Aircraft number two and three are scheduled for arrival during the first week of November and the fourth aircraft will arrive in early December.

The last two aircraft are brand new and will be delivered to SAA directly from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France. These two aircraft are sub-leased from Air Mauritius and will also fly with SAA for three years.

The commonality and common type rating between the Airbus A350-900 XWB powered aircraft and the other Airbus aircraft in SAA’s fleet translate directly into cost saving for training pilots, crew, engineers and technicians as well as for spares inventory.

The A350-900 XWB has excellent range/payload performance on long-haul flights departing from Johannesburg (the hot-and-high consideration). SAA will achieve approximately 25% lower operating costs (cash) operating the A350-900 XWB, over a 5-year period, compared with some of its four-engine aircraft generation that has similar range and payload capabilities. 

SAA will achieve approximately 25% savings in fuel consumption and emissions. Besides lower operating costs, it will also reduce SAA’s exposure to South Africa’s recently imposed Carbon Tax because it is more environmentally friendly and help it achieves global emissions offset mechanism targets for international aviation requirements.

SAA will also benefit from the approximately 40% lower cost for maintaining the A350-900 XWB’s airframe over a 5-year period, that is, the aircraft excluding the engines, compared with some of its four-engine aircraft generation it will replace on the Johannesburg-New York-Johannesburg and other routes.

The aircraft will be equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. Since entering service in 2015, the Trent XWB engines have flown more than five million hours and is regarded as the world’s most efficient large aero-engine.

“With this we extend our relationship with Rolls-Royce and the Trent family of engines by adding the Trent XWB to a fleet that already includes the Trent 700, powering the Airbus A330s,” says Ramasia.

The airline will take delivery of 18 A350s, with four of the new aircraft joining the fleet before the end of the year. 

Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ Director of Brand and Customer Experience said: “We are delighted to welcome the first of our A350s to the fleet. This aircraft marks a significant and exciting milestone in our £6.5 billion investment programme and is even more special as it comes with our new Club Suite. The A350 is a fantastic aircraft and an excellent showpiece for British engineering. Our customers are going to love the space, light and comfort on board.”

Watch the ‘Making Of’ here:

The newly-branded ‘Club Suite’ offers direct-aisle access, a suite door for greater privacy and luxurious flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. Boasting 40 per cent more storage, including a vanity unit and mirror, WiFi, enviable 18.5-inch inflight entertainment screens, high definition gate-to-gate programming, and PC / USB power; every aspect of British Airways’ Club Suite has been designed for today’s customer.

The A350 promotes a feeling of well-being, space and calm due to its reduced noise levels, high ceilings and ambient lighting which is intended to compliment the time of day and outside light. Customers will leave their flight feeling rested thanks to higher levels of humidity and refreshed air as the cabin pressure is equivalent to an altitude of just 6,000 feet. There are also environmental benefits to flying on the state-of the-art A350 as 25 per cent lower fuel burn significantly reduces CO2 emissions.

As well as a new 56-seat Club World cabin, the three-cabin A350 features the latest World Traveller Plus cabin (56 seats) with new furnishings including a plush new pillow and warm quilt, new amenity kits and an enhanced service and an improved dining experience. The World Traveller (economy) cabin offers 219 seats. Customers will also benefit from high-speed WiFi, allowing travellers to browse the internet on their personal electronic devices.

In a world first, the airline mapped out their new Club Suite and A350 in lasers within the British Airways Laserdrome, a 100 square metre structure, towering 6 and a half metres high. Watch it here: 

During phase one in August, the first A350 aircraft will start some short-haul flying between London and Madrid to allow the airline’s teams to perfect their customer service delivery and familiarise cabin crew with the aircraft layout.

In phase two, which starts during September, the aircraft will begin long-haul flying to Dubai, followed by services to Toronto, Tel Aviv and Bangalore this year. During this period another three A350 aircraft will join the British Airways fleet and two Boeing 777 aircraft will also be retrofitted with the new cabin.

At the start of 2020 phase three will begin which will see British Airways rolling out its Club Suite on further long-haul aircraft across the network.

The arrival of the A350 is part of the airline’s £6.5bn current investment programme and forms part of an exciting year for the airline as it celebrates its centenary. Other activity includes the airline’s BA 2119 programme exploring the future of fuels, the customer experience of the future and the aviation careers in the next 100 years. 

Bringing the A350-900 to the South African market is an exciting development for Lufthansa. Based on the positive reactions from travellers around the world, we believe that our South African passengers will also enjoy the ergonomically designed interior of the aircraft, together with unique lighting and more space for storing personal items which create a special travel experience for our customers” says Dr Andre Schulz, General Manager for Lufthansa Group Southern Africa.

With a fuel consumption of just 2.9L per passenger per 100 kilometres, a dramatically reduced noise and CO2 emissions footprint, as well as enhanced cabin features, the A350-900 is setting new standards for technical features and is the world’s most eco-efficient long-haul aircraft.

Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris, commented: “We congratulate Lufthansa on this new offering and are honoured to be selected as the first African destination to receive this environmentally friendly and improved comfort aircraft. A 5% increase in two-way traffic between Germany and Cape Town International has already been recorded between January and September of this year, in comparison to that of 2017. We hope to see these numbers grow over the next year as we seek to boost travel, trade and tourism between Cape Town and Munich.”

“Since the Munich – Cape Town route continues to be a popular route for both leisure and business travellers, we are happy to welcome this world-class aircraft to the Western Cape. This is yet another step we have taken in ensuring that we meet our commitment to constantly improve our South African service offering,” concludes Dr Schulz.

The addition of the flights will bring the total number of Ethiopian’s flights out of London Heathrow to 10 a week during this period. All flights will be operate with the new Airbus A350 with capacity of 313 in economy and 30 business class featuring lie-flat seats. The additional flights will be operated on a Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays providing additional connectivity to several Eastern and Southern African destinations in both directions.

Michael Yohannes, Country Manager UK, commented: ‘’The UK is an important and growing market for us and this increase in capacity reinforces our commitment to widen our foot print and paves the way to possibly extend our reach to other parts of the UK in the very near future. Together with my team, I look forward to closely working with our travel trade partners to further strengthen our commercial relationships.”

The A350-900 is the world’s most modern and eco-friendly long haul aircraft. It uses 25 percent less kerosene, has 25 percent lower emissions and is significantly quieter during take-off than comparable aircraft models.

Dr. Andre Schulz, general manager for Lufthansa Group Southern Africa, said Cape Town has risen significantly in global rankings as a preferred destination for both leisure and business travellers.

“European passengers travel increasingly to South Africa, both for leisure and business; and at the same time we see an increasing demand from locals to travel to Europe. We are excited about introducing this world-class aircraft to our Cape Town – Munich route, in order to ensure we continue to meet our customers expectations and build on our African service offering,” he said.

The A350-900 is the Lufthansa fleet’s state-of-the-art newcomer. Economy Class is particularly roomy and comfortable and features the most recent technology. On average, the new plane consumes only 2.9 litres of kerosene per passenger per hundred kilometres – roughly one quarter of that consumed by comparable aircraft. Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofan engines and optimised aerodynamics reduce its noise footprint by 30 percent, far below the regulation threshold. Further, because the passenger cabin can be assembled at the same time as the fuselage, wings and tail plane, the A350 takes one third less time to build than other Airbus models.

Last year, Lufthansa placed orders for a total of 25 ultra-modern jet aircraft of this type. The first ten are to be based in Munich, flying to destinations like Delhi, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Boston. Currently, seven of the ten aircraft are already operating out of Munich. Along with Cape Town, the latest routes to be added to the A350-900’s schedule include Seoul, New York, Chicago, Denver and Singapore. The aircraft can seat 293 passengers: 48 guests in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy, and 224 in Economy Class.

“Adding the A350-900 to our fleet has been a milestone for Lufthansa, and one that makes us exceptionally proud. We are looking forward to welcoming this aircraft to Africa, and are sure that our passengers will share in our excitement,” said Dr Schulz.

Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, remarked: “The introduction of the A350 XWB Full-Flight Simulator is a continuation of our pioneering role in African aviation Technology. It is part of our Vision 2025 strategic roadmap to be fully self-sufficient in the provision of pilot training in all the aircraft type we operate. It complements the other full-flight simulators we are already operating such as the B787, B-777, B737, B757, B767 and Q400.
All in all, we have invested over 125 million $ in the last 7 years to expand and upgrade all the facets of our training capabilities. These investments are meant to bridge the aviation skill gap in Africa and to avail well trained and qualified aviation professionals in the continent. Education is the biggest Equalizer of our time and our aim is to make Africa self-sufficient in aviation professionals ”

The Pilot Training School of the airline has trained pilots from over 52 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe for close to 50 years.
With its over six decades of existence, the training division of the airline, Ethiopian Aviation Academy, ICAO designated center of excellence, is a world class Aviation Training Center equipped with state-ofthe-art and best in class training equipment and technology offering full range of Aviation Training Programs.

Taking delivery of Africa’s first Airbus A350 XWB in 2016, Ethiopian currently operates 7 A350 XWBs with 17 on order.