Ethiopian Review

Emulating other international carriers’ practice of compensating for the Dreamliners’ delay with new aircraft orders, Ethiopian Airlines is gearing up to purchase B-777s aircraft from Boeing.

Several international carriers including Air New Zealand, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways and now the national carrier Ethiopian are coping with 787 delays by ordering new planes from either Boeing or Airbus.

According to a source, Ethiopian will shortly place an order for B-777s. The source did not say how many Ethiopian would purchase, but confirmed the order is due to the delay in the delivery of the Dreamliners.

The airline’s public relations office said the carrier is evaluating various fleets and has not reached any decision. The CEO, Girma Wake, and other senior officials declined to comment.

Becoming the first airline to exercise purchase rights or options for the fast selling new Boeing jetliner, Ethiopian ordered ten 787 Dreamliners on Feb 4, 2005. Despite the fact that until now not a single Dreamliner was delivered, Girma Wake confirmed the order a few weeks ago.

Quoting the CEO, Reuters reported that the airline will take all ten of the Dreamliners it has ordered, and may buy more planes as it enjoys medium-term growth of 20 per cent in revenues and passengers.

While the CEO was confirming the order, Boeing was only announcing a completion of the intermediate gauntlet phase of testing on the first 787 Dreamliner, which was expected to have its first flight shortly, but is now facing further delays.

Though it said it did not relate to the latest delay, Australian carrier Qantas subsequently cancelled orders for 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Dreamliner, which is already nearly two years behind schedule, had a peak of 900 orders, but now has closer to 850 following a spate of cancellations.
According to industry officials, Boeing, which is under pressure from its customers to offer fresh concessions, recently stopped discussing compensation terms for delays to the 787. They speculated that the company is waiting until its actual delivery schedule is clear.

B-777 Fact file

• The B-777, another marketable Boeing product, has been in some demand recently. Turkish Airlines inked a deal to purchase five and Emirates received planes in May. The Chicago-based manufacture has now delivered the 75 777 commercial jetliners to Emirates.
• The Dubai-based Emirates is one of the largest operators of Boeing’s popular twin-aisle, long-haul airplane and is expected to become the world’s largest 777 operator later this year.
• Boeing and Turkish Airlines have also signed an order for five Boeing 777-300ER (Extended Range) airplanes valued at 1.36 billion dollars at current list prices.
• The Boeing 777-300ER is 19 per cent lighter than its closest competitor, greatly reducing its fuel requirement. It produces 22 per cent less carbon dioxide per seat and costs 20 per cent less to operate per seat. The airplane can seat up to 365 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a maximum range of 7,930 nautical miles (14,685 km).
• The 777 family is the world’s most successful twin-engine, twin-aisle airplane. Fifty-six customers around the world have ordered more than 1,100 777s.

- By Kirubel Tadesse | Capital Ethiopia