Ethiopian Airlines reports record profits, stands behind Dreamliner despite fire

Image Credit: Konstantin von Wedelstaedt

by Vinay Bhaskara

African carrier Ethiopian Airlines has announced a record net profit of 2.03 billion birr (US $107.6 million) for the period from July 2012 - June 2013, up 178% from 734 million birr (US $39.2 million)year-over-year (YOY). Operating profitability also rose a healthy 170% YOY to 2.7 billion birr (US $143.1 billion), from 1 billion birr (US $53.0 million). While the carrier has not yet formally released its financial results, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam presented these figures as coming from Ethiopian's un-audited results for the period. The formal announcement of results should come soon.

Interestingly, Gebremariam attributed Ethiopian's profitability in part to the troubled Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, citing the fuel savings driven by the aircraft's increased fuel efficiency. His comments come just a month and a half after an Ethiopian Dreamliner memorably caught fire at London's Heathrow Airport in early July (an incident later attributed to a Honeywell Emergency Locator Transmitter), and a three month long grounding of the aircraft due to battery issues earlier this year. Gebremariam admitted that the Dreamliners had caused some issues for Ethiopian this past financial year:

Definitely the incidents and grounding have some impact. We were very fortunate that coincidentally the grounding of the planes were in what we call slack season. It's a slow demand season. So were able to minimize the level of the impact.

However, he also said that the carrier has seen a demand boost from the Dreamliners:

Whenever we introduce the aircraft in any route, the load factor immediately increases, which means our customers love the plane, they are enjoying its features

Ethiopian says that it will take delivery of its remaining 8 Dreamliners on order (5 direct orders and 3 leases), bringing the carrier's active fleet of 787-8 Dreamliners to 12 (13 frames on the books but one is currently indisposed at Heathrow Airport). Ethiopian currently operates a fleet of 54 passenger aircraft (with 31 more on order - 14 Airbus A350-900s, 8 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, 4 Boeing 777-300ERs, and 5 Boeing 737-800s) serving 80 passenger destinations around the globe. Based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian is a member of the Star Alliance partnership of global airlines, and is one of the world's fastest growing airlines.

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Ethiopian Airlines beats Air India to become first non-Japanese Boeing 787 Dreamliner operator

National carrier Ethiopian Airlines beat out a dithering Air India to become the third overall, and first non-Japanese carrier to take delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

After taking delivery, Ethiopian flew its first Dreamliner ET-AOQ, to Washington D.C. Dulles airport, where the aircraft was displayed to VIP guests and media. It then made its inaugural trip to Africa and its first revenue flight from Dulles International Airport to Bole Addis Ababa International Airport.

Ethiopian Airways has nine more 787 Dreamliners remaining on order. The airline was the first African airline to operate the 777-200LR, the first to order the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the first to order the 777 Freighter. Ethiopian Airlines currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 737, 757, 767 and 777, and now 787 airplanes in passenger service and a 757, MD11 and 747 in cargo operations.

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Ethiopian Airlines orders additional Boeing 777-200LR

Boeing announced that Ethiopian Airlines has ordered an additional Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, in addition to the airline's fleet of five 777-200LRs.

Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines said

"The 777-200LR has been a fantastic airplane for Ethiopian Airlines," "The performance and range of the airplane allowed us to open direct routes from Washington D.C to Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa to Beijing, Toronto to Addis Ababa, as well as other long range routes . In line with our Vision 2025, we plan to provide more and more non-stop long haul flights to connect east, west, north and south, using the strategic location of our Addis Ababa hub. We need at least two airplanes on each route to operate daily service efficiently to long range routes. This additional airplane will let us take full advantage of the performance and economics of this great airplane."

No details on the delivery schedule of the aircraft were provided at this time. The carrier also has an outstanding order for six Boeing 777F freighters.

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