MoU for five 777-8Fs confirms Ethiopian Airlines’ cargo ambitions

The selection by Ethiopian Airlines of the Boeing 777-8F as its new full-freighter aircraft confirms its plans to significantly grow the cargo business unit in the next decade. Part of that plan is to double the fleet by 2035 to 24 full freighters. MoU for five 777-8Fs confirms Ethiopian Airlines' cargo ambitions. Ethiopian and Boeing issued a media release late on March 4 to announce that the airline had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for five 777-8Fs. Once confirmed, this makes it the second customer for the new freighter that was launched on January 31 with a firm order for 34 plus sixteen options from Qatar Airways. The -8F is the second type in the 777X family and is expected to enter service in 2027. In the release, Ethiopian CEO Tewolde Gebremariam referred to the Vision 2035 plan: “In our Vision 2035, we are planning to expand our Cargo and Logistics business to be one of the largest global multimodal logistics providers in all continents. To this effect, we are increasing our dedicated freighter fleet with the latest technology, fuel-efficient and environment-friendly airplanes of the 21st century.” Vision 2035 targets some $3.0 billion in annual cargo revenues Looking at Vision 2035 more closely, the plan is to operate 24 full freighters by then and grow its annual cargo revenues to $2.97 billion, of which $2.37 billion must come from full freighters and the remaining $0.6 billion from belly capacity. Ethiopian Cargo should generate at least $421 million in annual profits. Tonnes carried should grow to 1.6 million, of which 1.3 million from the freighter fleet, up from just under 500.000 tonnes in 2019/2020, the year of which the most recent numbers are available. Ethiopian Cargo should grow its network from 57 to seventy destinations and get a market share on the sub-Sahara African market of some thirty percent. In between these 2035 targets is Vision 2025, which foresees a fleet of nineteen freighters and annual revenues of $2.0 billion, 820.000 tonnes carried, and 62 destinations. Ethiopian has invested in a new e-commerce hub terminal at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, which has a capacity of 336.000 tonnes per year for perishable goods and 264.000 tonnes for dry cargo. Ethiopian Cargo operates a fleet of nine Boeing 777Fs. (Ethiopian Airlines) Ethiopian Cargo’s current fleet consists of nine Boeing 777Fs, of which the first was delivered in September 2012 and the most recent in March 2019. A tenth aircraft was damaged beyond repair in a fire at Shanghai Pudong airport in July 2020. Three are leased from AerCap (GECAS), one from BBAM, with the rest directly owned by the airline. It also has three Boeing 737-800BCFs, of which two are leased from AerCap (GECAS) and one from GA Telesis. According to its website, Ethiopian has one more -800SF on order. During the pandemic, some 25 passenger aircraft have been converted into freighters to assist the cargo business. Ethiopian’s fleet plans also include the conversion of its three Boeing 767-300ERs. In August 2021, the airline announced a plan with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to establish a conversion center in Addis Ababa for the 767, which will complement IAI’s conversion lines in Tel Aviv and Mexico City. Gebremariam said back then that his airline would convert all three 767s from its own fleet, but the center will be available to other African airlines as well. Ethiopian Cargo's network now includes 57 destinations and should grow to seventy by 2035. (Ethiopian Cargo) MAX fleet still inactive The commitment to the 777-8F further strengthens Ethiopian’s relationship with Boeing. The fleet includes seven 737-700s, 22 -800s, four MAX 8s, three 767-300ERs, six 777-200LRs, four -300ERS, nineteen 787-8s, and eight -9s. It has 25 MAX on order, but the infamous crash of flight ET302 in March 2019 not only led to the worldwide grounding of the type but also affected the relationship between Ethiopian and Boeing. The OEM last November acknowledged liability for compensatory damages to the families of the 157 casualties of flight ET302. Ethiopian said on February 1 that the MAX had returned to service, but actually, the airline has done only one single flight on that same day. No commercial flights have been flown with the four MAX aircraft currently in the fleet, of which two remain in storage. One MAX 8 did a technical flight on February 10 but hasn’t been active since then. The preference for the 777-8F must be a disappointment for Airbus. Ethiopian operates sixteen A350-900s and an order for the A350F would have been a nice addition to the fleet.

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