The Reporter (Addis Ababa)
Hayal Alemayehu
17 November 2007
The Ethiopian Airlines had leased two GE-powered Boeing 747-200 freighter aircraft from the South Air Inc based in Kentucky, USA.
The airlines embarked on this move in order to accommodate the increasing airfreight demand for the booming flower exports, Ethiopian told The Reporter yesterday.
One of the aircraft will arrive at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport today while the other is slated for arrival on December 31st, according to the Airlines.
Both aircraft were manufactured in 1981 and each has the capacity to carry 100 tonnes at a time.
Signed on October 12, the lease agreement includes the cockpit crew. The lease period for the first aircraft which will arrive today will be fourteen months. The second one, arriving on December 31, will stay with Ethiopian for nineteen months. The lease agreement for the two aircraft is expected to fill the gap until the airline receives two already ordered MD-11 freight aircraft, one of which will arrive in December 2008 while the other will be here in August 2009.
The first of recently leased B-474 aircraft will make a maiden flight of its daily services to the airlines' European cargo hub, Brussels, on November 18. The service to this route will then be twice daily, when the second B-747 aircraft arrives, according to the Airlines.
In addition, on January 04, 2008, Ethiopian will launch its once-a-week freighter services to Hong Kong, making Ethiopian cargo operation a "pioneer" African Airline linking Asia with Africa in this sector, the Airline said.
The arrival of the two B74 freighter aircraft, coupled with the existing two B757 freighters, is expected to "satisfy" Ethiopian's current cargo capacity requirement especially in view of Ethiopia's increasing volume of export.
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