Faith Nyasuguta
Ethiopian Airlines has finalized an agreement to acquire eight Boeing 777-9 widebody jets, with the potential for an additional 12 aircraft orders, as disclosed in a joint statement on Tuesday.
This move aligns with the trend among major airlines to secure orders for fuel-efficient widebody jets, meeting the demands of international travel while keeping operating costs in check.
Boeing, currently under scrutiny following a January 5 incident that saw a door plug blow off a brand new 737 MAX plane mid-flight, has faced challenges with its 777X program, experiencing five years of delays.
Last week, Emirates president Tim Clark raised the prospect that first delivery of the 777X, the globe’s largest twin-engine jet, could slip into 2026 from late 2025. Emirates is the largest buyer of the plane.
The order from Ethiopian Airlines marks a significant step for Boeing’s 777X program, which has garnered numerous orders globally. Despite recent concerns about potential delivery delays, Ethiopian Airlines becomes the first 777X customer in Africa.
This acquisition complements the airline’s previous 2023 order for 11 787 Dreamliner and 20 737 MAX jets. The introduction of the 777-9 jets supports Ethiopian Airlines’ strategic plans to expand and modernize its fleet, enhancing capabilities in size, range, and passenger capacity to serve high-demand markets across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
In 2022, Ethiopian Airlines swapped its existing orders of A350-900 for larger planes, making it the first African carrier, yet again to own the largest variant of the Airbus A350 models.
Africa’s most profitable airline converted four of its remaining six A350-900 orders into the larger airplanes.
The purchased aircraft gave the state-owned carrier a competitive edge over its African peers including the Kenya Airways (KQ) and South African Airlines (SAA) in attracting passengers seeking new experiences while saving on fuel costs.
“The A350-1000 is the best fit for our dense routes, and we believe that the upsizing will be instrumental in satisfying the increasing demand of customers in our vast global network across five continents,”, the Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive Mesfin Tasew said.
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