Six more Dreamliners for Ethiopian

ETHIOPIAN ANNOUNCES ORDER FOR SIX MORE DREAMLINERS AT PARIS AIRSHOW

(Posted 18th June 2015)

Speculation voiced some weeks ago here, when it was reported that Ethiopian Airlines was in talks with Boeing over the purchase of at least 6 more B787 Dreamliners, has now been confirmed when it was reliably learnt that the airline has indeed signed the deal at the Paris Air Show.

While production slots for the much in demand aircraft are ordinarily years down the line, did Ethiopian eye, very likely with a substantial rebate in mind, some early production B787’s stored at Boeing. These aircraft are said to be over the projected minimum weight Boeing has projected for this aircraft type, a key factor in fuel burn, but are otherwise no different from the models now coming off the production line. The main difference however is that these aircraft are available more or less immediately, allowing Ethiopian to boost their present fleet of 13 such aircraft to eventually 19 in the near future.

These additional aircraft are needed to allow Ethiopian to roll out already announced new destinations and reach them nonstop, while at the same time making space to progressively phase out the aged B767-300 fleet which is still in service.

These latest orders cement Ethiopian’s position as the leading airline on the African continent, now connecting over one hundred destinations on 5 continents through their Addis Ababa hub.