Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew reported that they are currently operating with 140 aircraft, a number that is constantly fluctuating, and that they will need at least 130 additional pieces of equipment to reach the planned number, state TV quoted Fana Broadcasting as saying Corporate.
Tasew said the next round of orders is expected to come later this year and will be a mix of narrow- and wide-body aircraft. “The Embraer E2 series versus the Airbus A220 are candidates for the lower end of the aircraft size.”
They are also considering acquiring a 100-seater aircraft, in addition to the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo as narrow-body aircraft, and the 777X and A350-1000 as wide-body aircraft.
He explained that Ethiopian Airlines’ backlog as of June 5 includes 29 aircraft: 737 MAX (17), 777F (5), a 787-9 and Airbus A350-1000 (6).
However, with the start of the summer season, the Ethiopian airline will be hit by the problems in the global supply chain and their consequences for the airline industry, the executive warned.
“Not on the older models like the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 or the Boeing 737NG. “The problems are with the A350 and the 787. We have a critical shortage of components,” he admitted.
So far, he added, it hasn’t been necessary to ground planes, but in July and August, in the high season, they are all necessary and then we could have a problem.
On the other hand, he announced that in a year or two it could expand via Singapore to Australia, the last continent he does not fly to. They also envisage more services to America.
“We want to increase flights to Toronto and we have applied for traffic rights for Montreal. In the United States, Ethiopian operates in New York, Newark (New Jersey), Chicago, Atlanta and Washington.
In South America, the airline serves Buenos Aires and Sao 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 current national network will expand from 20 airports to 27 as five new airports are planned in the country.
According to Tasew, the airline will end the Amharic fiscal year in June with a slightly higher passenger count of 13 million compared to 12.2 million in 2019.
mem/nmr