Ethiopian national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines (ET), on 28 September, took delivery of its first of five reconfigured Bombardier Q-400. Routed Toronto-St Johns-Azores-Lisbon-Rome, ET-AQB (MSN 4419) arrived in Addis Ababa yesterday to much pomp and fervour.
The added five aircraft, all of which are due to Ethiopian before year end, will join the other seven Q-400s already in the Ethiopian fleet, that are also due to undergo a refit in due course.
“After listening to our customers feed back and understanding customers concerns on cabin features of the aircraft in the last two and a half years, we have worked with Bombardier on the innovative reconfiguration. We are very happy on the new configuration which will enable us to provide customized and the best possible service on domestic and regional routes,” said Chief Executive Officer Tewolde Gebremariam.
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| Ethiopian Airlines Q400 (ET-AQB) leaving Toronto |
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| Ethiopian Airlines Q400 (ET-AQB) Cabin |
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| Ethiopian Airlines Q400 (ET-AQB) Business Class |
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| Ethiopian Airlines Q400 (ET-AQB) galley |
The airline requested the manufacturer
to reconfigure the new Q-400 based on its customers' feed back. Whereas the previous
Q-400s were all economy, the new aircraft will have 7 business class and 60 economy
class reclinable seats. There is now a second lavatory which gives exclusive
access to business class passengers in addition to a hot galley enabling the service of hot meals on regional flights.
The new aircraft will also have more luggage capacity and extra overhead bin space
and leg room.
On top of its 17 domestic destinations, the airline uses the Q-400 on regional
routes to Djibouti, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kilimanjaro, Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar,
Entebbe, Kigali, Juba, Khartoum and Berbera.