Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has taken delivery of its sixth Boeing 777-200LR (MSN 43814 | ET-AQL) at a ceremony held at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on July 2. The added aircraft comes at a time when Ethiopian is expecting to post very strong numbers for this year, in spite of the 787 Grounding debacle.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Mr Gebremariam said his carrier is expecting "a record profit with 20 to 25 percent growth in revenue and number of passengers", despite the temporary grounding of its fleet of four Boeing 787-8s.
Ethiopian is to seek compensation from Boeing and has already notified the US aircraft manufacturer of the financial loss it incurred due to the grounding, the CEO said.
Earlier this year, Ethiopian Minister of Transport, Diriba Kuma, told parliament in Addis Ababa that after only eight months, the national carrier had almost achieved its target of USD1.62billion (ETB30.1billion) for this year, despite tight air travel market conditions the world over.