Ethiopian Airlines weighs new Airbus or Embraer order as travelers return

Ethiopian Airlines is keen to expand its lead in the African aviation market with plans for new aircraft to meet rising travel demand. The Addis Ababa-based Star Alliance carrier expects passenger numbers to surpass 2019 levels during the year ending in June 2023, group CEO Mesfin Tasew Bekele said at a luncheon in Washington, D.C., on September 2. With the passenger recovery in sight, the airline plans to restart an aircraft order campaign for a roughly 100-seat plane that was paused in early 2020 when the pandemic hit. The aircraft, which Bekele said will be either the Airbus A220-100 or Embraer E195-E2, are needed to Ethiopian’s traffic growth forecasts. “We are going to finalize our evaluation” of a 100-seat aircraft, he said. Bekele hinted that the A220 “best fits Ethiopian Airlines’ market,” and that Airbus had provided the best commercial terms. An A220 order from Ethiopian would further expand the plane’s growing dominance of the 100-seat aircraft market. Owing to its small size and low costs it proved one of the more popular planes for airlines’ to fly during the pandemic, and coming out of the crisis has racked up a number of new orders. New commitments have come from existing operators, like Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways, and from new customers, including ITA Airways and Qantas. If Ethiopian ordered the A220, it would join the likes of Air Tanzania and EgyptAir operating the jet in Africa.<br/>