LONDON – On September 12, it was announced by Titan Aircraft Investments, which is a joint business venture between Titan Aviation Holdings and Bain Capital Credit, that they have signed a new agreement with Ethiopian Airlines for three Boeing 767 Freighters.
Ethiopian’s 767 Freighters
In a first move for the Ethiopian flag carrier, the announcement of this signing for three Boeing 767-300ER Converted Freighters is an unsurprising move.
These three aircraft will head to Ethiopian Airlines on a long-term dry-lease agreement, further expanding the carrier’s dedicated freighter fleet.
In terms of the delivery of these three aircraft, the first is expected to be delivered to Ethiopian Airlines by the end of September, the second is due later this year (2022), and the third is due in 2023.
The addition of these three aircraft to its books will expand Titan Aircraft Investments’ dedicated freighter fleet to a total of 10 aircraft, of which half of these are Boeing 767 Converted Freighters.
This is a not-so-surprising move for Ethiopian, given that the carrier has operated commercial passenger Boeing 767 aircraft since 1984 and, over the years, has operated a total of 18 of the type.
This 18 was a split of three Boeing 767-200ERs and 15 of the larger Boeing 767-300ER variant. So, the three Boeing 767 Converted Freighters are a perfect fit for the carrier as they already have pilots that are already trained on the type, but will likely need some minor refresher training just to understand some of the subtle differences between the passenger and freighter variants of the Boeing 767.
Besides their new incoming Boeing 767 Converted Freighters, Ethiopian currently operates nine Boeing 777 Freighters and four Boeing 737-800 Converted Freighters, as well as five more Boeing 777 Freighters on order.
Including all current aircraft and outstanding orders, Ethiopian will eventually have 21 dedicated freighter aircraft in its fleet.
However, it is worth noting that this is highly likely to increase as the carrier may opt for more Boeing 737-800 Converted Freighters and possibly some others if their Ethiopian Cargo sector continues to grow.
Commenting on their new agreement with Ethiopian Airlines, Michael Steen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Titan Aviation Holdings and Chief Commercial Officer of Atlas Air Worldwide, has said:
“We are delighted to welcome Ethiopian Airlines as a strategic customer and support its growing freighter fleet. We are honored that Ethiopian Airlines recognizes our industry and technical expertise and has placed its trust in Titan.”
Adding to Steen’s comments, Ethiopian Airlines Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Mesfin Tasew, says, “This dry lease agreement will be fundamental to our fast growing cargo operations as Ethiopian is a key global player in the air cargo business.”
“We are glad about the partnership with Titan Aircraft Investments to enhance our capacity with three more B767 converted aircraft in addition to the existing nine wide-body freighters and four B737 converted aircraft.”
Overall
These three Boeing 767 Converted Freighters will be a very welcome addition to their dedicated freighter fleet, further expanding their much-needed cargo capacity whilst keeping their costs in count as very little retraining for their already type-rated pilots is needed, and the Boeing 767 Converted Freighter will go hand-in-hand alongside their existing Boeing 777 Freighter fleet.
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