Summary
- Ethiopian Airlines has secured a $450 million loan from Citi to finance five Boeing aircraft, expanding its fleet size and supporting its growth plans.
- The loan will cover the acquisition costs of three 737 MAX and one 777F aircraft.
- Ethiopian Airlines has a major backlog of aircraft orders from each Airbus and Boeing, showing their ongoing expansion and modernization efforts.
Ethiopian Airlines has secured a $450 million loan to buy five Boeing aircraft, namely three 737 MAX 8 and two 777F jets. In response to the airline, the loan was secured against the worth of the five aircraft, arranged exclusively by Citi’s Corporate Banking and Export Agency and Finance teams.
December deliveries
The carrier noted that the loan was the bank’s largest aircraft financing in Ethiopia within the last decade, supporting Citi’s regional ambitions and Ethiopian Airlines’ growth plans. The five aircraft will grow the carrier’s fleet to 140 units, with Boeing finalizing the delivery strategy of the quintet in the USA (US) in December 2023.
In response to ch-aviation data, Boeing has already delivered one 737 MAX 8, registered as ET-BAL. Flightradar24 tracking activity showed that the aircraft left Seattle Paine Field International Airport (PAE) on December 15, arriving at Addis Ababa Bole Airport (ADD) following a stop at Dublin Airport (DUB) on December 17. Since then, it has accomplished six industrial flights, including landing at Chennai International Airport (MAA), India.
Photo: Airbus
Through the Dubai Airshow 2023, Ethiopian Airlines made two orders, purchasing aircraft from Airbus and Boeing. Firstly, the airline purchased a complete of 67 Boeing aircraft, split between 42 737 MAX (21 options) and 25 787-9s (15 options), following up its order with a purchase order of 11 Airbus A350-900. Nevertheless, the Airbus order was a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), indicating that the main points haven’t been finalized yet, providing a touch of why the order had not shown up on the European manufacturer’s Orders & Deliveries data.
Ethiopian Shares The Love With Order For Airbus A350-900s At Airshow
The order comes a day after the airline committed to as much as 67 more Boeing aircraft on the show.