Ethiopian Becomes the First Airline in Africa to Own and Operate the B787 Full Flight Simulator

Press Release

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Continuing with its aviation technology leadership in Africa, Ethiopian, the largest and most profitable airline of the continent, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the first ever B-787 Dreamliner full flight simulator in Africa. The installation and build-up of the full flight Simulator is in progress at Ethiopian main Hub in Addis Ababa and the first pilot training in the B-787 flight simulator will start in March, 2015.

Ethiopian was the first airline in the world outside Japan to receive and operate the B-787 Dreamliner in August 2012. Currently, the airline is the largest operator of the B-787 in Africa. With the installation of the B-787 flight simulator, Ethiopian will be the first in Africa to give full flight simulator training for pilots on the B-787 aircraft.

CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, said “We are continually investing in developing our training capability. With installation of the B-787 Flight Simulator, we will be fully self-sufficient in providing in-house training for our pilots on the B-787 aircraft, which has become our core fleet on our mid and long range routes.

Over the last 4 years, we have invested $ 80 million in expanding both the scope and scale of our Academy. In line with our 15 years strategic roadmap Vision 2025, we will continue to invest heavily on our Academy with the objective of increasing its annual in-take capacity to from currently 1,000 trainees to about 4,000 by 2025.”

Ethiopian already provides full flight simulator training for pilots on the Q-400, the B737, the B757 and the B767.

Ethiopian Aviation Academy is certified by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, the U.S Federal Aviation Administration, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and IOSA (IATA Safety Audit). The Academy has been providing training for pilots, maintenance technicians, cabin crew, marketing and leadership for the airline and other sisterly carriers in Africa for more than six decades.

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing and most profitable airline in Africa. In 2014, IATA ranked Ethiopian as the largest airline in Africa in revenue and profit. In its operations in the past close to seven decades, Ethiopian has been a pioneer of African aviation as an aircraft technology leader providing the first jet service in the continent in 1962, and availing the first African B767 in 1984, the first African B777-200LR in 2010 and the first African and second only to Japan B787 Dreamliner in 2012.

Ethiopian commands the lion share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 83 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200LR Freighter and Bombardier Q-400 with double cabin. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft.

Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading airline group in Africa with seven strategic business units: Ethiopian International Passenger Service; Ethiopian Regional Service; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Service and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning, including SKYTRAX and Passenger Choice Awards in 2013 and has been registering an average growth of 25% per annum in the past seven years.

For more information about this press release, please contact:
Manager PR & Publications
Ethiopian Airlines
Tel: (251-1) 517-84-07

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