Etihad finally starts flying its A350-1000s

Etihad Airways has, on 31 March 2022, finally launched operations with the A350-1000, three years after taking delivery of its first one.

The first revenue flight was operated by A6-XWB (290), which flew to Paris-Charles de Gaulle and back to Abu Dhabi. The flight to Paris, however, was a one-off flight as Etihad will operate the type, initially, to Istanbul and Mumbai. Later, Cairo, Delhi and Jeddah will be added.

So far, Etihad has taken delivery of five A350-1000s, with fifteen remaining on order. It's, however, unclear if the airline will take delivery of all of them as they are still reshuffling its orders with Airbus. Etihad has also signed a LoI for seven A350Fs.

In the fleet, the A350-1000 is set to replace the B777-300ER, of which it operates twelve.

Photo by Etihad Airways.