Ethiopian Airlines Receives the 5th 777-200LR Named "The Sahara"

Ethiopian Airlines continues to grow as world class African airline, with the introduction of its 5th 777-200LR on July 22, 2011 named “The Sahara”. Ethiopian brand new 777-200LR arrived at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport this morning, carrying to its full load from Seattle with a stopover in Paris, for the first time.

Ethiopian Airlines named the five 777-200LRs with African land marks highlighting the theme of “The New Spirit of Africa”. Accordingly, the first 777-200LR named, “The Blue Nile”, the second “Rift Valley” , the third “Victoria Falls”, the fourth “Mount Kilimanjaro and the fifth “The Sahara”.

“We are satisfied with the performance of the 777-200LRs. Our customers like it, our pilots like it. It is a very good airplane. With this airplane, we are able to cut travel time of our US and Beijing routes by two to three hours.”, said Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines when he received the new airplane at Bole International Airport.

The 777-200LR interior offers passengers an enhanced onboard experience with state-of-the-art electronic sleeper seats in Cloud Nine and reclining seats with more legroom and spacious cabin in Economy, allowing passengers to fly with comfort. It has also over eighty entertainment channels that allow passengers to listen and watch channels of their choice.

Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to operate the world’s most technologically advanced and long-range airplane in the world, further reaffirming its leading position on the continent.

In addition, Ethiopian Airlines was the first airline in Africa to order the 787 Dreamliner and it will be the first African carrier to operate the 787 in the first quarter of 2012. Ethiopian’s vision of the future includes ten 787s, as well as 12 Airbus 350s, all of which will significantly enhance its network expansion and generate more revenue.