Ethiopian Airlines Group has completed the conversion of the first Boeing 767-300ER from passenger to freighter in Africa: the airline operator also has two units awaiting to complete this process. The African airline partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and began a freighter conversion line at the company’s MRO facility in Addis Ababa (ADD).
The company added these aircraft to its fleet in 2004. The conversion aims to replace these older passenger aircraft with newer models such as the Boeing 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner. The conversion of the 767-300ERs to freighters will allow the company to increase cargo shipping capacity and improve its service.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Israel Aerospace Industries and become the first African airline to successfully complete the passenger-to-freighter conversion of the B767 aircraft. As a fast-growing airline, our partnership with IAI, one of the world’s technology leaders in the aerospace industry, is crucial in transferring technology and skills in the field of maintenance, repair, and overhaul,” said Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group.
“Ethiopian Airlines is committed to getting closer to its customers with high quality cargo services. In addition to our latest cargo fleets, the converted B767 aircraft will augment our growing local and international cargo destinations with more cargo capabilities,” Tasew added.
The company during this period undertook the temporary conversion of 25 passenger aircraft to freighters using its in-house MRO capacity. This significantly boosted its cargo operations and mobilized more than one billion vaccines for COVID-19 worldwide.
The airline has already started the conversion of the second 767-300ER to freighter, has already reached an essential door-cutting stage and will be completed in the coming months. Ethiopian Cargo’s cargo and logistics services currently cover more than 130 international destinations worldwide.
The company’s fleet of cargo aircraft consists of the following models: 4 Boeing 737-800BCF, 9 Boeing 777F plus five orders and expects to receive 3 Boeing 767-300BCF in the near future. In March of this year Ethiopian signed an MoU for 5 Boeing 777-8Fs to complement its fleet with the new generation of freighter aircraft from the U.S. manufacturer.
