Above: Boeing has secured an order from Ethiopian Airlines
for 10 of its 737-800 planes valued at about $767 million.

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Sunday, January 24, 2010

New York (Tadias) – The flag carrier of Ethiopia is continuing to invest in its fleet portfolio confirming an order from Boeing worth $767 million for 10 Next-Generation 737-800s.

“The Boeing Next-Generation 737 has proven to be a reliable and profitable component of our fleet,” Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Officer Ato Girma Wake said in a Boeing press release. “Boeing has been an important and valued partner to Ethiopian for many, many years. This order reinforces the deep ties between our two companies.”

Ethiopian is the first African carrier to own and operate the long-range, wide-body and world’s largest twinjet known as “Triple Seven”. The company also was the first African airline to order the 787 Dreamliner, according to Boeing.

“Since its founding in December 1945, Ethiopian Airlines has been a dedicated Boeing operator — from [the carrier’s] first flights using DC-3 propeller-driven airplanes between Addis Ababa and Cairo, to recent orders for the long haul 787s and 777-200LRs, and continuing now with 737-800s, ” Marlin Dailey, Vice President of Sales for Boeing’s Commercial Airplanes said. “Ethiopian Airlines has been among the most profitable airlines in the region and one of our most valued partners.”

This is the latest in a series of recent big purchases by Ethiopian Airlines. It is to be recalled that Airbus won a similar order from the airline in November 2009 for 12 of its forthcoming A350 commercial jetliners in a deal valued at about $2.8 billion at list price.

Video: Ethiopian Airlines’ new Dreamliner presentation