Article from BTNews 4 JUNE 2018
100th aircraft for Ethiopian
Maintaining its position as an aviation pioneer, Ethiopian Airlines takes delivery tomorrow, Tuesday, of its 100th aircraft, a Boeing B787-900. It becomes the first African carrier to operate a 100-aircraft fleet.
Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said: “It is an honour for all of us at Ethiopian to reach this milestone of 100 aircraft and a continuation of our historical aviation leadership role in Africa.”
Ethiopian was the first to offer jet service in the continent back in 1962. It operated the first African Boeing B767 in 1984, the first African B777-200LR in 2010 and the first African B787-800 Dreamliner and B777-200 freighter in 2012.
It also introduced the first African Airbus A350 in 2016 and the first African B787-9 in 2017. The airline now operates one of the youngest and most modern fleets, with an average age of less than five years.
GebreMariam noted fleet modernisation and expansion was one of the four critical pillars of Ethiopian’s Vision 2025 strategic roadmap to support a fast-expanding network which now covered more than international destinations in five continents. The airline still has five more B787-900s and 16 A350s on order, among others.
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David Granville, United Kingdom
Great achievement, congratulations ET! A shame TWA is no longer around to see the fruits of its investments in the 1940's