The Ethiopian Airlines said on Monday in Addis Ababa that it has signed a $500 million agreement with the Chinese Government to expand its Boeing fleet.
An official of the airline, Tewolde Gebremariam said that the Airliner had signed an MoU with the Chinese ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd., for the deal. “In the future it can be extended to other fleet types, but for now the understanding is for $500 million in financial facility, while the loan negotiation will be the next stage,” the official said.
Gebremariam said the ICBC MoU, would provide Ethiopian Airlines with financial support for its fleet expansion plan.
The plan, he said would include “but not limited to B737 and B787 aircraft in the form of finance lease, sale and lease back, commercial loans or operating lease from ICBC Leasing’s Boeing order.”
The official said the MOU was one of the largest financial cooperation in the aviation industry between the two countries, “which is an important step for China-Africa financial corporation.”
The official said the ICBC Leasing, a leading global leasing company, is a strategic partner bank in the world and would support its Vision 2025 project towards sustainable growth.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Airlines said it had concluded arrangement to re-introduce its Kano route scheduled to begin on Saturday, May 24.
The Kano route, which would be on a four-weekly basis, is the company’s fourth destination in Nigeria, with Abuja, Lagos and Enugu already operational.
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