fbpx

Ethiopian Airlines To Order Narrow-Body Planes For Regional Routes

Ethiopian Airlines To Order Narrow-Body Planes For Regional Routes

From The Reporter

The fastest growing airline in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines, is planning to order single aisle (narrow-body aircraft) that it will deploy on regional routes.

Reliable sources told The Reporter that the management of Ethiopian is looking at Airbus A320 NEO and Boeing B737 MAX aircraft. The sources said the management of Ethiopian recently issued a request for the proposal. Both Airbus and Boeing have submitted their initial responses.

The arch rivals – Airbus and Boeing – are competing to sell their narrow- body aircraft to Ethiopian. The European consortium, Airbus, is proposing its A320 NEO narrow-body jetliner.

The Airbus A320 NEO family is a family of aircraft under development by Airbus replacing the predecessor A320 family. The letters “NEO” stand for New Engine Option and are the last step of modernization program A320 Enhanced which was started in 2006. In addition to the NEO, the modernization program also included such improvements in aerodynamic refinements, large curved winglets (sharklets), weight savings, a new cabin with larger luggage spaces and an improved air purification system.

These improvements in combination are predicted to result in 15 percent less fuel consumption, 8 percent lower operating costs, less noise production, and a reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions. The price of A320 NEO is about 100 million dollars (74 million euros). The A320 NEO was launched in December 2010. Airbus has firm orders for the A320 NEO family totaling 2523 as of November 2013. The A320 NEO first flight is slated for 2014 autumn.

Boeing’s 737 MAX is a re-engined version of the narrow-body plane designed to take on Airbus’ A320 NEO.

The 737 MAX incorporates the best of future engine technologies for unprecedented levels of efficiency, reliability and passenger appeal.

Written by Kaleyesus Bekele | Read more at The Reporter