Ethiopian Airlines to Order 10 Narrow-Body Planes, Eyeing CSeries or E2-CEO

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, wants to buy 10 narrowbody planes and is considering Canada’s Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer jets among others, as it plans to nearly double its fleet between now and 2025, chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam said Monday.

Tewolde, speaking on the sidelines of a global aviation forum in Montreal, said that he is visiting Bombardier’s Mirabel factory on Tuesday to review the 100-seater CS100.

He said in an interview that he is visiting the 100-seater CS100 at Bombardier’s Mirabel factory on Tuesday, but is also considering aircraft made by the company’s rivals.

“I’m also looking at E2, the Russians, the Japanese, the Chinese,” he said.

Ethiopian Airlines also has 14 firm orders for A350 aircraft between now and 2025. The carrier is looking at ordering 10 more aircraft, and is weighing B777 and A350 planes.

Ethiopian Airlines expects to grow from 77 aircraft and 7.4 million passengers this year to 22 million passengers and 150 aircraft by 2025, he said.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Bernard Orr)