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| Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8. Photo: Boeing |
[Avionics Today 09-22-2014] Ethiopian Airlines has ordered 20 Boeing 737 MAX 8s. The order, previously unidentified on the Boeing orders and deliveries website, is worth more than $2.1 billion at list prices and also includes options and purchase rights for a further 15 737 MAX 8s. The order represents the largest single Boeing order by number of airplanes from an African carrier.
“Today’s order underlines our commitment to our 15-year strategic plan, ‘Vision 2025,’ in which Ethiopian will strive to become the leading airline group in Africa carrying 18 million passengers per annum,” said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, during a visit to the Association for the Promotion of Tourism to Africa national forum in Chicago. “The 737 MAX will form a key component of that strategic vision, enhancing our single-aisle fleet and keeping us at the forefront of African aviation.”
The 737 MAX incorporates the latest technology CFM International LEAP-1B engines, advanced technology winglets and will be 14 percent more fuel-efficient than today’s most efficient Next-Generation 737s, and 20 percent more efficient than the original Next-Generation 737s when they first entered service, according to Boeing.