Ethiopian Airlines is on a roll in the new aircraft milestones department.
The carrier on Thursday received Africa’s first Boeing 777 Freighter (ET-APS), just a month after taking delivery of the continent’s first Boeing 787 Dreamliner,
“This delivery marks another special day for Ethiopian Airlines and all of Ethiopia. We are not only becoming the first African carrier operating Boeing’s 777 Freighter, today we are also taking our cargo operations to a new level and into a new era,” said Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, in a statement. “As the largest African cargo carrier operating in some of the fastest growing trade lanes of the world – between Africa and Europe, Middle East, and Asia – the new 777 Freighter fleet will significantly enhance our tonnage and range capabilities.”
Thursday’s delivery and one additional 777F will be leased to Ethiopian from GECAS in a deal from June 2011. Ethiopian itself ordered four 777F’s in a deal announced last October, and added a fifth plane to that order this past July.
By our count, the 777F brings the Ethiopian fleet up to 12 different types of Boeing jets, which would make it by far the most diverse Boeing fleet in the world.
