Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew reports that they are currently operating with 140 aircraft, a number that varies constantly, and will need at least 130 additional pieces of equipment to reach the planned figure, citing state-run Fana Broadcasting Corporation.
Tasew has specified that they estimate to place the next round of orders at the end of the year, and it will be a mix of narrowbody and widebody aircraft. “Embraer E2 series vs. Airbus A220 candidate for lower end of aircraft size.”
Similarly, they’re evaluating a 100-seat airliner, plus the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo as narrow-body competitors and the 777X and A350-1000 as wide-body competitors.
He explained that as of June 5, Ethiopian Airlines’ order book includes 29 aircraft: 737 Max (17), 777F (5), 787-9 and Airbus A350-1000 (6).
However, with the advent of the summer season, the Ethiopian airline has been affected by global supply chain problems and their consequences for the aviation industry, the executive warned.
“Not in older models like the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 or Boeing 737NG. The problems are with the A350 and 787. We have a severe shortage of components.
He added that until now it was not necessary to land planes, but in July and August in the high season, they are all needed and then we could have a problem.
On the other hand, he announced that in a year or two they could expand to Australia, the last continent he would not travel to, via Singapore. They also expect more services to America.
“We want to increase flights to Toronto, and for Montreal we have requested rights of way. Ethiopian operates in the US in New York, Newark (New Jersey), Chicago, Atlanta and Washington.
In South America, the airline serves Buenos Aires and São Paulo, Brazil, while in Europe Madrid (Spain) and Lisbon (Portugal) are also on the radar.
In addition to serving 63 international destinations in Africa, Ethiopia’s existing national network of 20 airports will rise to 27 as five new airports are planned in the country.
According to Tasew, the airline will end the fiscal year in June, according to the Amharic calendar, with a slight increase in the number of passengers of 13 million compared to 12.2 million in 2019.
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