#ABVOpens: Ethiopian Airlines’ Brand New Airbus A350 Becomes First Aircraft to Land at Abuja Airport after Renovation

A brand new Airbus A350-900 owned by Ethiopian Airlines has landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, becoming the first aircraft to land at the airport after six weeks of closure.

The Airline’s Traffic and Sales Manager, Firiehiwot Mekonnen had announced on Monday that the aircraft would land in Abuja on its first day of operation from Addis Ababa and that it would remain on Abuja route.

The airline launched its first A350-900 Airbus on the London Heathrow route August last year. It has three of the plane in its fleet and awaits the delivery of nine more before 2019.

Water canon display to welcome @flyethiopian Airbus A350 at the Abuja airport #ABVOpening #6WeeksMinus1Day pic.twitter.com/hX7sbQo1Mx

— We ASOcial (@DigiCommsNG) April 18, 2017

She said that the decision to celebrate the inaugural flight to Abuja was because of the airline’s commitment to the Nigerian market.

“The Ethiopian’s brand new Airbus A350-900 is landing in Abuja airport tomorrow (Tuesday) as the first aircraft to land on the newly rehabilitated runway and first airbus to land in Abuja. From now on, we are going to operate Airbus on Abuja route,’’ she said.

When Abuja Airport was closed on March 8 for repairs on its runway and flight operations were diverted to Kaduna International Airport, Ethiopian Airlines was the first to land its new Boeing 787 in Kaduna.

The airline, being the only international carrier that agreed to operate at Kaduna, had maintained consistent operation at the airport in the last six weeks.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State had also requested that the airline maintained its Kaduna operation even after the reopening of Abuja airport.

Mokennen had said that the airline “is seriously considering the governor’s request”.