Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa) and Boeing (Chicago and Seattle) have announced an order for 20 737 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.
The 737 MAX incorporates the latest technology CFM International LEAP-1B engines, Advanced Technology winglets and other improvements to deliver the highest efficiency, reliability and passenger comfort in the single-aisle market. The 737 MAX will be 14 percent more fuel-efficient than today’s most efficient Next-Generation 737s – and 20 percent better than the original Next-Generation 737s when they first entered service. The 737 MAX has a total of 2,294 orders from 47 customers worldwide.
Ethiopian currently serves more than 83 destinations across five continents from its base at Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian flag carrier’s partnership with Boeing has existed for more than half a century, with a current fleet of more than 50 Boeing airplanes that includes Next-Generation 737s, 757s, 767s, 777s, 787 Dreamliners and a cargo fleet of 757s, 777 Freighters and MD-11s.
Image: Boeing.
Ethiopian Airlines: 
amazing – a world class airline in a third class country
Size isn’t everything; EA is almost a budget airline. All credit to them for longevity, however! Far from being ‘third class’, Africa is fast devloping on the airline front, now that more countries are allowing competitors to the loss-making ‘flag carrier’.