Ethiopian Airlines adds Airbus A350 Flights to London Gatwick Airport

Addis Ababa, August 4, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopian Airlines has added Addis Ababa to London Gatwick. Ethiopian last served Gatwick in 2005 and 2006 using the Boeing 757. Now it will use the Airbus A350-900.

As first seen reported by Aeroroutes, Ethiopian has added a thrice-weekly service to Gatwick. Now bookable, it begins on November 21st and appears to be year-round.

The route is significant for various reasons, which includes Ethiopian becoming Gatwick’s second sub-Saharan African operator. It will join Air Mauritius, which will begin service on October 30th, replacing Heathrow. In contrast, Ethiopian will serve both London airports – along with Manchester.

The outbound time to Gatwick (departing at 00:15) is similar to most of the carrier’s other European services and will be fed by huge numbers of arriving flights from across Africa. But the inbound from Gatwick (arriving at 20:40) is rather different.

While most aircraft remain in Europe all day to maximize two-way connectivity across Africa, Gatwick arrives back in the mid-evening, rather than early morning (06:00-07:00 onward).

This connects to far fewer places but includes a growing range of places in Eastern and Southern Africa, all important markets from London. They include Entebbe, Harare, Johannesburg, Kigali, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Nairobi, Seychelles, and more.