A Boeing 777-9 of Ethiopian Airlines
Photo by: Ethiopian Airlines
The Ethiopian Airlines Group has signed an agreement with major US aerospace group Boeing under which the former will manufacture aircraft parts for the latter. This was announced by the Ethiopian Investment Corporation on Friday afternoon and confirmed by the airline in a social media post on Saturday. Boeing has not yet commented on the deal.
The agreement also includes Ethiopia’s State-owned Industrial Parks Development Corporation. The deal will see Ethiopian Airlines set up an aerospace parts manufacturing plant on a 4 ha site in the Kilinto II Industrial Park, in Addis Ababa.
According to the Ethiopian Investment Commission, the parts that the new plant will manufacture include electrical wire harnesses and thermo-acoustic insulation blankets. But it did not say when the plant would start production.
The Commission also stated that the plant would create more than 300 jobs for Ethiopians.
On its website, Ethiopian Airlines reports that it has a current fleet of 147 aircraft. Of these, 95 are Boeing types, of which 15 are dedicated freighter aircraft. The Boeing passenger airliners currently in service with the airline are 19 787-8s, ten 787-9s, four 777-300ERs, six 777-200LRs, one 767-300ER, 18 737-800s, nine 737-700s and 13 737 MAXs. The freighter fleet comprises nine Boeing 777-200LRFs, two 767-300Fs and four 737-800Fs.
The Reuters news agency noted that Ethiopian Airlines earnings for the 2022/2023 financial year were 20% up, year-on-year, reaching $6.1-billion.