NO ANNOUNCEMENT AT #FARNBOROUGH BY #ETHIOPIAN AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF DIDDLING
(Posted on 17th of July 2018)
Ethiopian Airlines’ decision making process has come to a complete stop – they say for now that is – after pondering over the acquisition of a new small jet aircraft for several years. Given the announcement by the company ahead of the Farnborough Air Show was there much anticipation that a decision, widely expected to be in favour of the new Airbus A220 series, formerly known as the Bombardier CSeries, but all that came to naught on the opening day of one of the world’s greatest airshows.
ET’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam was quoted in aviation media overnight that he has put off any decision for a new small jet – after investing resources in an evaluation process over several years – saying that the company’s growth would require to stick to larger jets like the Boeing B737.
‘We have decided to suspend the evaluation of the 100-seater regional aircraft acquisition project, since the market size of the selected regional routes is growing faster than we expected‘ was Gebremariam quoted at the air show. In regard to foreign investment in the Ethiopian Airlines Group, something recently sanctioned by the new government, was Gebremariam quoted saying that he sees opportunities in non core businesses while at the same time suggesting that shares in the airline could be acquired by countries in which ET already operates subsidiaries or plans to get engaged with like Djibouti and notably Eritrea.
For now will there no doubt be disappointment in the corridors of Embraer and Bombardier / Airbus both of which have, following the announcement, put a brave face to the situation.
https://atcnews.org/2018/06/21/decision-time-for-ethiopian-airlines-on-order-for-smaller-jets/
https://atcnews.org/2016/11/10/decision-time-is-nearing-at-ethiopian-airlines-for-fleet-additions/
