This Sunday, November 10th Ethiopian Airlines will debut its Airbus A350 at Toronto Pearson International Airport. In fact, to launch this five times weekly service between Toronto and Addis Ababa, Ethiopian will host a "first-hand media opportunity" and allow members of the press to tour the aircraft in-person.

“We’re excited about the arrival of our Airbus 350 to Toronto, a city where we have been flying direct now for over seven years. Canada is a very important market for us, and we are committed to providing our customers with the ultimate travel experience.” - Samson Arega, Ethiopian Airlines Canada country manager

Currently, Ethiopian Airlines holds the title of the largest airline in Africa and has one of the youngest fleets in the world. In fact, at one point the Star Alliance member was the only African operator of the Airbus A350.  That has since changed as South African Airways took delivery of their first A350 just a few days ago. That aircraft will debut on a service to New York.

Ethiopian's newest in-flight experience

According to a press release, Ethiopian Airlines made special mention of several features passengers could look forward to onboard their newest aircraft.

Passengers with smart devices can connect to in-flight WiFi, while others can use smart individual touch screens on their seats. WiFi is provided via "state-of-the-art broadband satellite technology" that will allow travelers to send emails and use social media while in the air.

Finally, for seating, all seats are fitted with "the latest high-definition touchscreen personal monitors and a higher selection of movies, television series and audio channels".

Toronto media opportunity

On Sunday, media - including Simple Flying - will be able to tour the Ethiopian Airlines Airbus A350 in person at Toronto Pearson International Airport's Terminal 1.

Once all guests arrive, Ethiopian Airlines Canada country manager Samson Arega will open up with a welcome speech. This will then be followed by an escorted tour of the new aircraft.

Aircraft flip flop

At the end of July, Ethiopian Airlines filed additional aircraft changes for its Addis Ababa – Toronto route. It chose to continue operating its Boeing 777-200LR instead of the Airbus A350-900XWB aircraft. Now it looks like the airline is going back to its original plan!

This route operated via Dublin as a technical stop on the Westbound flight and, according to FlightRadar24, it appears that this stopover will continue with the A350. Up until this point, flights ET502/503 have been operated by either a Boeing 777-200 or a 787-8.

Conclusion

Interestingly, this is the third airline that will fly its newly received Airbus A350 to the Canadian city of Toronto. First, it was British Airways and more recently Air France made a big deal out of it. With Ethiopian now on the scene, Simple Flying is very excited to attend this launch event to bring you some unique photos and insights.

Apparently, as one Simple Flying commenter stated, Toronto is the place to be to fly the A350!

Have you flown on the A350 before? Is it worth the hype? Let us know in the comments!