Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) announced that it will take delivery on 5 June 2018 of its 100th aircraft, a Boeing 787-900.
The acquisition of the aircraft makes Ethiopian the first airlines to operate 100 aircraft fleet in the history of the African continent.
On the planned delivery of the aircraft, Ethiopian Group CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam said “It is an immense honour for all of us at Ethiopian to reach the milestone of 100 aircraft. “This milestone is a continuation of our historical aviation leadership role in Africa and a testimony of the successful implementation of our fast, profitable and sustainable growth plan, Vision 2025,” he added.
Ethiopian was 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.
It now operates one of the youngest and most modern 100 aircraft, with an average age of fewer than 5 years. The Airline has 5 more Boeing 787-900 and 16 Airbus A350 airplanes on order.
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.
The Airline commands the lion’s share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating fleet to more than 110 international passenger and cargo destinations across five continents.
