By a Staff Reporter

The Ethiopian Airlines announced yesterday it has signed an agreement with Bombardier to purchase eight Q400 Next Generation turboprop aircraft, the first delivery of which is scheduled for September 2010. The agreement also provides the option for the purchase of four additional aircraft.

Ethiopian said based on the price list of the Q400 NextGen aircraft, the total value of the firm order contract is approximately USD242 million and could increase to USD 366 million if the option to purchase the additional four aircraft were to be exercised.

The Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft has, according to Ethiopian, an excellent range and payload capability which will permit it the flexibility to deploy the equipment on its domestic routes within Ethiopia as well as on its regional routes ranging up to 1,000 nautical miles or 1,850 km from Addis Ababa.

According to Ethiopian, another key factor for the selection of the Q400 aircraft is its exceptional performance in terms of climb rate, single-engine ceiling and a higher level of take-off weight, resulting in increased payload from hot and high elevation airfields. The new aircraft has a passenger seat capacity of 78 in contrast to the 50-seater Fokker aircraft currently in use by Ethiopian. The airline also uses the B737-700 equipment for certain of its domestic flight operations as required.

Girma Wake, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian, noted that because of the 360-knot speed, low operating costs and favorable environmental credentials of the Q400 NextGen aircraft, Ethiopian Airlines will remain competitive and be in a position to provide adequate and a high standard of quality service to its customers.

He also said, “Following the rapid growth of the Ethiopian economy, we have been experiencing an appreciable rate of growth in market demand on the domestic sector of our services, and in order to cater to this market, Ethiopian had embarked on a domestic fleet renewal project for sometime. From our research and careful analysis, it has been determined that we require 8 to 12 aircraft within the next few years for both the domestic and regional routes operations.”

Ethiopian Airlines plays a critical and major role in bringing the cities of the different regions of Ethiopia within easy reach of Addis Ababa, the capital. Today, the public travels within and across the nation for various reasons. While the domestic business travel is growing fast and steadily alongside the economy, the tourist market has also shown positive trends over the last few years.

"It is, therefore, quite fitting and consistent that the national carrier has to keep abreast with these rapid developments. The purchase of the new fleet is, no doubt, timely and most appropriate," the airline said.