The first of the ten Boeing B787-8 Dreamliner aircraft ordered by Ethiopian Airlines is expected to arrive in Addis Ababa later
on this week.
Ethiopian Airlines pilots and technicians are trained and ready to operate the new aircraft which will arrive in Ethiopia on the 17th of August said Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive of the Airline. Technicians are also being sent for further practical training to ANA he said.
Ethiopian is organizing a ‘Dream Tour’ to Kilimanjaro on August 18th for VIPS, members of the media and business people will be taken on a sightseeing tour of Africa’s highest peak said Tewolde.
The airline plans to offer the full experience of the new aircraft to its select passengers he explained.It is expected that the Dreamliner will rotate on African routes including Kilimanjaro, Harare, Mombasa, Nairobi, Lusaka, Lagos, Entebbe, Abuja, Johannesburg, Douala, Malabo, Accra, Lome, Luanda, Maputo and destinations outside of Africa such as Dubai, London, Frankfurt,Rome and Mumbai according to Ethiopian.
The Dreamliner will take part in the African Aerospace Exhibition to be held in Pretoria, South Africa. Ethiopian Airlines will take charge of four Dreamliners before the end of this year.
Ethiopian Airlines was one of the first airlines in the world, and the first in Africa to put in an order for the Dreamliner aircraft. It will be the second airline in the world, after Japanese line, Air Nippon, to take delivery of the Dreamliner.
There are currently 859 Dreamliners on order by 58 customers across the world. African carriers which have ordered the aircraft are Kenya Airways, Arik Air and Royal Air Maroc.
Source: The Reporter
