Ethiopian Signs B787 Landing Gear Exchange Deal with Boeing
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian Airlines Group signed a contract agreement with Boeing for the 787 Landing Gear Exchange Program at the Farnborough Air Show in Britain.
The new contract that includes 19 787-8 landing gear exchanges was signed between Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, and Stephanie Pope, President and CEO of Boeing Global Services this week.
With this new service, the US planemaker says Ethiopian Airlines will receive predictable pricing, reduced inventory investment, and access to Boeing’s global inventory and will complement the parts support program in place for the 787 and 777.
“We are pleased to sign an agreement with Boeing for the repair and exchange service of Boeing 787 landing gears,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin said.
“This year marks 10 years since Ethiopian Airlines introduced the 787 platform, and this landing gear exchange is part of our long-term strategic relationship between Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines.”
Additionally, Ethiopian has signed for Boeing’s Airplane Health Management (AHM) service for their 787 and 737-8 fleets. The service, Boeing says, enables airlines to reduce unscheduled maintenance via real-time fault forwarding and customizable, analytics-driven diagnostic tools.
President and CEO of Boeing Global Services Pope said “we are delighted to continue our longstanding partnership with Ethiopian Airlines” both with the landing gear exchange program and the Airplane Health Management service.
This is for the second time this year that the two companies signed a major agreement.
Last May, Ethiopian signed an agreement to acquire five 777 Freighters from Boeing in a bid to meet the growing demand for cargo services.
The airlines currently operate three 737-800 converted freighters, as well as a combined passenger fleet of more than 80 Boeing jets, including 737s, 767s, 777s, and 787s.
Featured Image Caption: Illustrative — an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner prepares to take off from Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia, April 27, 2013 (Photo File/AP/Elias Asmare)
