Ethiopian Airlines Takes Its First 787 Delivery – Washington Dulles To Be the First Destination

by: Siva Vayali - August 15th, 2012   Filed under: Airlines, Airports 2 Comments

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) became the third airline in the world after ANA and JAL to take delivery of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The gleaming new airplane landed at Washington Dulles (IAD) today on its way to Addis Ababa.

The airline announced Washington Dulles (IAD) as its first destination for the B787. Starting October 20, 2012, the airline will start regularly scheduled flights to Dulles. ET currently operates its daily ADD-IAD service with a B777 – 200. Ethiopian will alternate between B787 and B777 on the route.

Ethiopian attaches great importance to its Washington Dulles flights as it provides important link to one of the largest Ethiopian community outside Ethiopia. The route also provides important opportunity for cargo revenue. Ethiopian, being one of the newest member of Star Alliance, leverages United Airlines’ hub at Dulles for connections.

With 10 B787s in order, Ethiopian announced Guangzhou (CAN), its second destination for the Dreamliner.

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United Airlines Orders 150 Boeing 737s including 100 of 737 Max

by: Siva Vayali - July 12th, 2012   Filed under: Airlines Add Comment

United Airlines today announced an order for 150 Boeing 737 planes to upgrade its narrowbody fleet. The order includes 100 of Boeing’s new 737 Max planes. According to the press release, United will be the North American launch customer for Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. The deliveries will start in 2018.

Boeing 737 Max is the tweaked variant of the companies best selling 737 narrowbody jetliner, offering better fuel economy. Boeing originally planned to replace the aging 737 workhorse with a new design from the ground up (like it did for the 787 dreamliner). Instead, Boeing decided to modify the existing platform to bring an upgraded product to the market sooner, because of the success of a similar strategy employed by its competitor Airbus with its A320 neo.

Going by the orders it is getting for the new 737s, it looks like Boeing made the right call.

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