All 10 routes are focused in the Eastern Hemisphere.
The Airbus A350 is one of the company’s most popular widebody aircraft. Despite the fact that it was designed for long-haul routes and has a big capacity, the COVID-19 outbreak forced several airlines to deploy their widebody aircraft on short-haul routes. This article examines the world’s shortest Airbus A350 trips in April.
The shortest A350 routes
Six airlines from three continents are in the top ten. Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Vietnam Airlines, and Turkish Airlines each have two flights in the top 10. Air Mauritius and Singapore Airlines are the two remaining carriers. This month, Ethiopian Airlines launches the world’s shortest Airbus A350 flight from Douala, Cameroon, to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Both flights are fifth-freedom, meaning they connect two countries rather than an airline’s home base. The 72-mile journey is ten miles longer than the world’s shortest Boeing 777 flight this month. The African airline is also ranked second on the list, with a 126-mile trip from Milan-Malpensa to Zurich.
Qatar Airlines has the third and ninth-shortest A350 itineraries, both of which originate in Doha. Qatar Airways operates flights to Dammam and Dubai from its hub at Hamad International Airport, 140 and 235 miles apart. Qatar Airlines and Airbus successfully addressed their disagreement regarding peeling paint on the airline’s A350s, of which it now possesses 53.
Following the settlement between the two parties, a total of 23 A350-1000s on order were reintroduced to Airbus’ order book. Air Mauritius and Singapore Airlines round out the top five with flights of 143 and 184 miles, respectively. Air Mauritius sends its A350-900s from Mauritius to Saint. Denis. The airline now possesses four aircraft the type and only two additional widebodies, the Airbus A330-900 (A330neo). Singapore Airlines utilizes the A350 to fly from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a distance of 184 miles.
Vietnam Airlines and Turkish Airlines each have two routes in the top ten, both of which are domestic flights. Vietnam Airlines takes sixth and seventh place with flights to Phu Quoc Island and Nha Trang, which are 187 and 192 miles long, respectively. Turkish has two flights to Izmir (221 miles) and Ankara (237 miles).
A350 fleets
Singapore Airlines has the most A350s on the list, with 62. Singapore possesses 55 A350-900s and seven A350-900 ULRs. It has three more A350-900s on order. Qatar Airlines is slightly behind with 53 A350s in service and another 23 on order. Ethiopian Airlines has 19 A350s in its fleet, with an average age of 4.3 years. One A350 still needs to be delivered. Vietnam Airlines owns 14 A350-900s, and Turkish Airlines has 12 on order.
