ADDIS ABABA, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Ethiopian Airlines on Wednesday signed a deal to buy 10 Boeing cargo planes, and its chief executive said the state-owned airline had the option to buy eight more.
• CEO Mesfin Tasew told a signing ceremony in Addis Ababa that the deal was for eight Boeing 777-8Fs and two 777Fs, confirming what industry sources told Reuters earlier this month.
• Mesfin said the catalogue price of the aircraft was $5 billion but that the actual price agreed was confidential.
• He added that Ethiopian Airlines had a right to purchase eight more 777-8Fs.
• The airline already operates 12 777F cargo planes, as well as three Boeing 767 freighters and four converted 737s on medium-haul routes, as part of a fleet of more than 140 jets.
• The airline is helping to fund a $12.5 billion plan for what officials say will be Africa’s largest airport, with phase one due to open in 2030.
(Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw;Writing by George Obulutsa and Vincent Mumo Nzilani;Editing by Alexander Winning, Kirsten Donovan)
