08 October 2015

Ethiopian Airlines closer to ordering the 777x than the A350-1000.


Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam has divulged the airline’s intention of placing orders for the 777X.


Ethiopian Airlines is expected to place an order for 15 to 20 Boeing 777Xs by the end of this year.

According to Wall Street Journal, the East African airline’s reported order consideration is worth around $7.4 billion at catalog price.
Source: Airbus

What makes this order special is that the carrier first deliberated on purchasing A350-1000 planes but had a change of mind to go with Boeing 777X.

The reason? The airline CEO said the 777X’s structure and performance would suit its operations better at its high-altitude hub in Addis Ababa.



Ethiopian’s regional director of the Americas, Nigusu Worku Wordofa, said, "It's good to have different types of aircraft. It gives us flexibility. However Boeing and Ethiopian have been in business for 7 decades; we have a very bright future and will continue buying Boeing airplanes."

Ethiopian is scheduled to take delivery of its first of 12 A350-900 ordered in 2016.

The airline -Africa's largest carrier- has also 11 Boeing 787 in service and an orderbook of 2 additional 787s and 4 777s. In July/2013, a 787-8 from Ethiopian catched fire at Heathrow.

Based on the artice “Boeing 777X Nears an Order Win Over Airbus A350” published in Guru Focus
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6 comments:

  1. unknownOctober 9, 2015 at 3:19 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. unknownOctober 9, 2015 at 3:20 PM

    See how they get on with the A350-900's the have ordered.

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  3. UnknownOctober 9, 2015 at 4:16 PM

    Possibly not ................. http://news.airwise.com/story/ethiopian-air-says-exim-saga-risks-boeing-orders

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    1. Jet.Fuel.773-erOctober 12, 2015 at 3:13 PM

      That does not affect the 777-8 impending order. The financing for the 778 will be handled further down the line. The article is based on orders that were placed a while back, specifically for 737's and 2 77F's. The remaining MAX and NG orders can be placed with other carriers pretty easily. I'm not however sure of the 777F's though.

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  4. AnonymousOctober 9, 2015 at 7:04 PM

    Really interesting article. Thanks for sharing.
    The negotiation will not be closed in weeks and Ethiopian will use the papers to get the best price and leadtime.

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  5. JoeOctober 10, 2015 at 12:17 AM

    This is not off base. Ethiopian has been a long standing Boeing exclusive customer. They want bigger planes to create a hub to the rest of Africa and compete with the more traditional European hubs and Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Dubai. If they can compete with those airlines and their frequency through those established hubs and fill those 777x's, it makes sense. If there is any question, the A350-1000 would be the safer and more economical choice. It will be interesting to see how the amenities offered inflight and at Addis Ababa terminal will offer to lure passengers.

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