Ethiopian Airlines to expand its cargo fleet with new aircraft orders

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Ethiopian Airlines gears up to expand its cargo business with new freighter planes. The airline is planning to order around five Boeing 777F. The African carrier said it could also add some A350Fs.

Ethiopian did not specify whether it was considering adding more B777-200Fs or new B777X freighters that Boeing recently announced the development during Dubai Air Show.

Chief Executive Tewolde GebreMariam told Bloomberg news agency that Ethiopian Airlines is planning to focus more on the cargo business since its share in the company's total revenues raised from 15% to 50% during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tewolde expects that number to settle at around 30% when things return to normal. The airline's core market is the Africa-China route because the E-Commerce between Africa and China is growing fast.

Ethiopian Airlines' current dedicated freighter fleet includes three Boeing 737-800(SF)s and nine Boeing 777-200Fs. The operator also deploys six A350-900s on cargo-only routes to meet increasing demand.