News
Ethiopian to order more A350s and B787s ahead of Asia-Pacific expansion
May 18th 2018
Ethiopian Aviation Holding Group CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, has told Reuters the airline would soon place orders for six additional A350s and thirteen more B787s ahead of a planned expansion that focuses on the Asia-Pacific, particularly China. Read More »
The Ethiopian Airlines chief said the carrier was in discussions with Embraer and Bombardier about a regional jet order. The Star Alliance member plans to place ten firm orders and ten options for either the Bombardier CSeries or the Embraer E195 E2.
Ethiopian Airlines is aiming “to be the most Chinese-friendly airline on the African continent,” the carrier’s managing director, Esayas Woldemariam, recently told Xinhua. “We have a Chinese help desk here at the hub [in Addis Ababa] for passengers passing through here to Africa and coming back. We have Chinese dedicated staff here. We have Chinese crew on board. We have Chinese food. We have a Chinese call-centre.”
The carrier is believed to be close to deciding on nonstop flights from Addis Ababa to Chongqing, a city of 30 million people in south western China. Chongqing would be Ethiopian’s fifth destination on the Mainland after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu and its route to Shenzhen in June. It also serves Hong Kong daily.
Ethiopian operates eight A350-900s and 21 B787s and has 16 A350s and six B787s on order.
