Ethiopian Receives the 2nd MD-11 Freighter Aircraft - 04 September, 2009

Ethiopian Airlines is pleased to announce the acquisition of its 2nd MD-11 freighter aircraft from the Boeing Corporation based in Chicago, USA.

The newly leased MD-11F aircraft has a payload capacity of 95 tons, 32 pallets and a volume of 513 cubic meters. This new acquisition will increase the total capacity of the current cargo service of the airline by 23% thereby enhancing the newly developed cargo market from Europe and South-East Asia.

Ethiopian cargo movement will gain momentum with the increased capacity to its major cargo destinations like Liege, Dubai, Hong Kong, Madras, Jeddah and Mumbai. In addition to these cities, the airlines’ cargo market has been growing substantially providing air cargo services to/from various points in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Ethiopian provides dedicated cargo services to 19 cities in Africa.

Ethiopian Cargo operates from its state-of-the-art cargo terminal which has a capacity to handle 350,000 tons of cargo per annum with modern facilities and equipments including, cold room storage with capacity of 130 tons, fully automated cargo system, elevated transport vehicles (ETV), storage for dangerous goods and radioactive materials, holding area for perishables as well as computerized work stations.

Currently, Ethiopian has a total of six dedicated cargo fleet consisting of two B757-200, two B747-200 and two MD-11F. The airline also provides efficient cargo services using the belly-hold cargo space in its scheduled passenger aircraft and charter services to various destinations. No other airline in Africa avails cargo services of such dimension and magnitude. This is a unique and pioneering endeavor by the airline to primarily encourage and promote Africa’s export business to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

For more information about Ethiopian Cargo services, please contact Director Ethiopian Cargo at GebremichaelB@ethiopianairlines.com or call (+251-11) 517-80-12.

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines, one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, made its maiden flight to Cairo in 1946.

Currently, Ethiopian is making a huge investment to expand its fleet and broaden its network. Including the recent orders of five B777-200LR and twelve A350-900, Ethiopian has 35 new airplanes on order direct from the manufacturers which will enable the airline to operate one of the newest and environment-friendly fleet in Africa.

In July 2009, Ethiopian won ‘Airline of the Year 2009’ award at African Business Award organized by the London based African Business Magazine and Common Wealth Business Council.

In August 2008, Ethiopian won the 2008 Corporate Achievement Award of Aviation & Allied Business for setting the pace towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry. Ethiopian is also the first African carrier to win the 2008 Brussels Airport Company Award in recognition of its distinguished long haul operations witnessed through the introduction of new routes, new products, and close cooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities.

Ethiopian was the winner of the ‘2008 Best Airline in Africa Award’ at the African Travel Award in Lagos, Nigeria, for its excellent network and convenient connections in Africa.

For more information about this press release, please contact: 

Manager PR & Publications 
Ethiopian Airlines 
Tel: (251-1) 517-89-07 (251-1) 517-81-65 
Fax: (251-1) 661-14-74 
E-mail: publicrelations@ethiopianairlines.com