After acquiring Africa’s first Airbus A350 XWB, Ethiopian Airlines, unarguably the best airlines in Africa will soon add another plane to its fleet. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will be welcomed into the Ethiopian Airlines family in October. Ethiopian Airlines, which calls itself the “Pioneer of African Aviation” will welcome the continent’s first B-787-9.
The B787-9 is made up of 80% composite material making it lighter than other planes. The 787 is part of the Quiet Technology Demonstrator 2 project Boeing adopted as part of its noise-reducing technology, making the 787 quieter both inside and outside by 60%. The 787-9 seats 280 passengers and as at 2015 costs about $306.1 million per unit.
Read: Ethiopian Airlines wins Airline of the Year Award, for the fifth year in a row
Ethiopian Airlines was the first airline outside of Japan to receive the Dreamliner. It began taking delivery as the third customer in the world to operate it on revenue flights.
With a total of 92 operational aircrafts, Ethiopian Airlines has ordered for 60 other aircrafts, of which four are the B787-9. Ethiopian Airlines operates the youngest fleet in Africa. The airlines targets making revenue of $10 billion by 2025.
In June this year, the Ethiopian Airlines won the SKYTRAX World Airline Award for The Best Airline in Africa at the Paris Air Show. Skytrax is the most respected global air transport rating organization that conducts the world’s largest annual airline passenger satisfaction survey where customers make their own personal choices as to which airline they consider to be the best.
#Ethiopian, the Pioneer of African Aviation, to welcome the first #B787-9 Dreamliner in October 2017. #avgeek pic.twitter.com/PU1wfRZXIG
— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) September 18, 2017
Read: Ethiopian Airlines wins The Best Airlines in Africa at SKYTRAX
Ethiopian Airlines has various management contracts to manage and operate the services of other African airlines. Taking its first scheduled flight on the 8th of April 1946, the airlines which has been in existence for over 70 years has consistently made profit for the past seven years.