Ethiopian Airlines to fly it’s 100th aircraft making history in the African Aviation
Ethiopian Airlines on Monday announced it will receive delivery of its 100th aircraft, a Boeing 787-900 on 5th June. This marks the airline as the first for an African airline to operate 100 aircraft fleet in the history of the continent.

On the planned delivery of the 100th aircraft, Ethiopian Group CEO, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam said: “It is an immense honor 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”.

Ethiopian Airline has maintained its remarkable reputation as an industry trendsetter and innovative market leader. The  airline 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,” GebreMariam said.

Ethiopian now operates one of the youngest and most modern 100 aircraft, with an average age of less than 5 years.

Ethiopian Airlines flies first all female crew in the history of aviation in Africa.

Ethiopian Airlines, which is the largest and most profitable airline in Africa, has continued to expand as competing African airlines are battling operational challenges and mired in heavy losses. The airline has pursued an aggressive expansion strategy, which has quickly transformed the carrier into the continent’s leading airline, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.

“Our new and cutting-edge fleet composed of B787s and A350s offer unparalleled on-board comfort to our customers and offer the best possible connections when traveling within Africa and between the continent and the rest of the world”.

“This 100 fleet milestone, which we have achieved ahead of our Vision 2025 targets, compels us to revise our plans with a view to phase in more aircraft and further expand our network so as to meet the growing travel needs of our continent and support its economic development and integration by facilitating the flow of investment, trade and tourism. We will continue to connect more and more Africans with their fellow citizens of the continent and with their brothers and sisters in the rest of the world to make life better every single day,” GebreMariam added.

The Airline has five more Boeing 787-900 and 16 Airbus A350 airplanes on order, among others. 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 recently signed a purchase agreement with Bombardier Commercial Aircraft for 10 firm Q400 aircraft valued at $332 million. The order also includes purchase rights for five additional Q400 aircraft.

Ethiopian Airlines has made great strides towards offering world class aviation services and the airline’s efforts have been rewarded, recently named by TripAdvisor as “The Best Business Class in Africa and Indian Ocean”.

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