Ethiopian Marks African Aviation History with 100th Aircraft in Active Service
Ethiopian Airlines, and SKYTRAX certified Four Star Global Airline, will take delivery on Tuesday June 5 of its 100th aircraft, a Boeing 787-900.
A statement issued in Accra by Mrs Aniley Eshetu, Assistant Manager Corporate Communications, Ethiopian Airlines and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the Airline was the first African airline to operate 100 aircraft fleet in the history of the continent, thus maintaining its pioneering aviation technology leadership role and ascertaining its leadership position in all aspects of Aviation Services in the continent.
On the planned delivery of the 100th aircraft, Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, Ethiopian Group CEO, said: “It is an immense honour for all of us at Ethiopian to reach the milestone of 100 aircraft”.
He said this milestone was a continuation of their historical aviation leadership role in Africa and a testimony of the successful implementation of our fast, profitable and sustainable growth plan, Vision 2025.
Ethiopian Airlines is the first to avail jet service in the continent back in 1962, and operated the first African B767 in 1984, the first African B777-200LR in 2010, the first African B787-800 Dreamliner and B777-200 freighter in 2012 and the first African A350 in 2016 and the first African B787-9 aircraft in 2017.
He said the Airline now operates one of the youngest and most modern 100 aircraft, with an average age of less than five years with fleet modernization and expansion as one of the four critical pillars of their Vision 2025 strategic roadmap, in support of their fast expanding network, which has now reached over 110 international destinations covering five continents.
“Our new and cutting-edge fleet composed of B787s and A350s offer unparalleled on-board comfort to our customers and offer the best possible connections when traveling within Africa and between the continent and the rest of the world,” he said.
He said this 100 fleet milestone, which they have achieved ahead of their Vision 2025 targets, compels them to revise their plans with a view to phase in more aircraft and further expand their network so as to meet the growing travel needs of our continent and support its economic development and integration by facilitating the flow of investment, trade and tourism.
“We will continue to connect more and more Africans with their fellow citizens of the continent and with their brothers and sisters in the rest of the world to make life better every single day,” he added.
Ethiopian operates a mix of state-of-the-art aircraft with an average fleet age of five years. The Airline has 5 more Boeing 787-900 and 16 Airbus A350 airplanes on order, among others. Ethiopian was the first African Airline and second only to Japan to operate the B787 Dreamliner in 2012 and the first carrier in Africa to usher with the Airbus A350 XWB in 2016.
Source: GNA