ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP)--Ethiopian Airlines has signed a multi-million dollar agreement to purchase eight small airplanes to boost its domestic coverage, the airline announced Saturday.
Under an agreement signed on Nov. 14, eight Bombardier Q400 Turboprop aircraft are scheduled to arrive in the capital Addis Ababa in September 2010 at a cost of $242 million, a statement said.
"Following the rapid growth of the Ethiopian economy, we have been experiencing an appreciable rate of growth in market demand on the domestic sector of our services," said Girma Wake, the airline's chief executive.
"It has been determined that we require eight to 12 aircraft within the next few years for both the domestic and regional routes operations," he added.
The carrier said it had an option to buy another four, according to the agreement, which could bring the total cost to $366 million.
Ethiopian Airlines is one of only a handful of African carriers enjoying a growth in revenue despite the global credit crunch.
The Horn of Africa nation's flagship carrier generated $941 million during the 2007/2008 fiscal year, and is expecting the figure to rise to more than $1.2 billion for the current year.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 22, 2008 14:19 ET (19:19 GMT)

Publié le 22 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones