Business & Markets
Ethiopian Airlines signs for 10 Boeing freighters in cargo expansion
The firm order pairs two nearer-term 777 freighters with eight 777-8Fs scheduled for 2033–35. The airline also cited separate plans to convert four passenger jets for cargo service; Reuters says it has a right to buy eight more new freighters, while the price actually agreed remains confidential.
Executive summary
- Ten firm aircraft: Ethiopian Airlines signed an agreement with Boeing for ten freighters: eight 777-8Fs due between 2033 and 2035 and two current-generation 777Fs scheduled for 2027 and 2028, according to the Ethiopian News Agency's account of the signing and Reuters' report from the event.[1][2]
- Price and additional aircraft: The airline's chief executive said the catalogue price was about $5 billion, Reuters reported, but the negotiated price is confidential. He also described a right to purchase eight more 777-8Fs. Separately, he said the airline plans to acquire four passenger 777s for conversion to freighters; those conversions are not part of the ten-aircraft Boeing order.[2][1]
- A major cargo business: Ethiopian's chief executive said cargo contributes about 23% of the airline's revenue, according to ENA. Reuters reported the carrier already operates 12 777 freighters, three 767 freighters and four converted 737 freighters. The announcement sets out a long-term fleet plan, with most of the firm order not scheduled to arrive until the next decade.[1][2]
Ethiopian Airlines signed an agreement with Boeing on Sept. 30 for ten cargo aircraft, the Ethiopian News Agency reported from the signing ceremony in Addis Ababa. The agreement covers eight 777-8 Freighters and two current-generation 777 Freighters. ENA said airline chief executive Mesfin Tasew and Boeing commercial-sales executive Brad McMullen signed the agreement.[1]
The two current-model aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2027 and 2028, while the eight 777-8Fs are scheduled between 2033 and 2035, ENA reported. Reuters independently reported the ten-aircraft agreement and the same model mix, citing Tasew at the ceremony. Those dates describe the announced plan; they are not completed deliveries.[1][2]
Ethiopian previously announced an intention to buy five 777-8Fs in a memorandum of understanding with Boeing in 2022. The Sept. 30 agreement is a later purchase announcement and specifies eight firm 777-8Fs within the ten-aircraft order; the public statements reviewed here do not explain how the earlier memorandum was formally handled.[1][3]
Tasew said the aircraft carried a catalogue price of about $5 billion, Reuters reported, but said the agreed purchase price was confidential. Catalogue prices are not evidence of what the airline will pay, and neither company disclosed the negotiated contract value in the reporting reviewed here.[2]
Reuters also reported Tasew's statement that Ethiopian has the right to purchase eight additional 777-8Fs. That is a purchase right, not part of the ten firm aircraft in the signed agreement. ENA separately quoted him describing four more passenger 777s that the airline plans to convert to freighters; the report does not describe those conversions as part of the Boeing order.[2][1]
Ethiopian's chief executive said cargo accounts for about 23% of the airline's total revenue and described the orders as part of a plan to expand cargo operations, ENA reported. Reuters said the airline already flies 12 777 freighters, three 767 freighters and four converted 737s, within a fleet of more than 140 aircraft.[1][2]
Boeing's commercial freighter information lists the 777-8F as a next-generation aircraft in its 777X family. Boeing's 2022 announcement said Ethiopian then signed a memorandum of understanding for five 777-8Fs; the new ten-plane firm order replaces that earlier intent with a larger committed purchase, while the additional eight remain a separate right.[4][3][2]
The order is a long-range capacity commitment rather than an immediate increase of ten aircraft: two deliveries are scheduled in 2027–28 and eight in 2033–35. The actual contract price, delivery execution and whether the airline exercises its additional purchase right remain unresolved in the public reporting.[1][2]