By Allan Olingo

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Ethiopian Airlines has placed an order for more than a dozen new Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier aircraft, cementing its position as the regional aviation giant.

The airline announced on Tuesday at the Paris Air Show that it had placed a $3 billion order for 10 Airbus A350-900 aeroplanes, in addition to at least another two it already has on order.

It is looking at more wide-bodied aircraft to help it boost its hub-based business model, which primarily relies on moving regional and continental travellers through its Addis Ababa hub.

Airlines group chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam said that it would be deploying the new aircraft on its long range routes to meet increased customer demand.

“We have been a loyal Boeing customer for a very long time, because we were looking for the right aircraft in the Airbus family. Now we have found the A350 to be the right aircraft for us. We are very happy we made that decision very early in the A350 programme. Now we see the performance of the aircraft is up to expectations. The performance, operational and cost efficiencies we have achieved with our initial A350-900s have resulted in these additional 10 aircraft orders,” Mr Tewolde said.

Original order

Last June, Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of the first of its original order for 12 A350s and now operates four of the type with three leased from AerCap and one leased from PingAn Aircraft Leasing.

The airline also signed a $1.5 billion engine order with Rolls-Royce that will see the latter provide Trent XWB engines for the 10 new Airbus A350-900 aircraft. In addition, the order includes engine service parts for 14 of the aircraft already in service.

Ethiopian Airlines ordered Trent 1000 engines for six Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft at the 2016 Paris Airshow, five of which are in service, and has lease arrangements for an additional four aircraft.

On Wednesday, the airline also announced that it had signed a commitment with Boeing for the purchase of two B777 freighters at a cost of $651.4 million. It also confirmed that it had firmed up the 10 Boeing 737 options included in its original order placed back in 2014, pushing its order to 30. Ethiopian Airlines currently operates six of this type alongside two B757-200s.

Trading partner

“We still remain with Europe as Africa’s largest trading partner and that has an impact on what we do. Having a very good aeroplane from Europe, is a perfect match. We will deploy these additional aircraft on our long-haul routes connecting Addis Ababa with destinations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia,” Mr Tewolde said, complimenting the overall performance of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Ethiopian Airlines will also be receiving five additional Dash 8-400s, a $163 million order that Canadian plane maker Bombardier confirmed, having received two of them last year.

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The airline currently has 14 of these aircraft, which it uses for interconnectivity routes within Africa that eventually feed into its long range flights.

Countries these aircraft are deployed into include Malawi, Togo and Tanzania. The airline fleet boasts of A350s, Boeing 787s, 777-300ERs, 777-200LRs, 777-200 freighters and Bombardier Q400s jets.