Ethiopian Airlines recently completed its passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion of a 767 aircraft with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), thus becoming the first African airline to complete the passenger-to-freighter conversion of a B767 aircraft. Ethiopian partnered with IAI to launch a B767-300 ER freighter conversion line at Ethiopian MRO facilities in Addis Ababa last year.
Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive Mesfin Tasew said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Israel Aerospace Industries and become the first African carrier to successfully complete the passenger-to-cargo conversion of B767 aircraft. As a fast-growing airline, our partnership with IAI, one of the global technology leaders in the Aerospace industry, is crucial in technology and skill transfer in the field of maintenance, repair, and overhaul."
Ethiopian plans to convert three of the airline’s B767 aircraft, with the conversion of the second aircraft almost nearing completion. The conversion is aimed at replacing these ageing airplanes with ultramodern and technologically-advanced passenger aircraft to provide utmost comfort and convenience for passengers.
“Ethiopian Airlines is committed to getting closer to its customers with high-quality cargo services. In addition to our latest freighter fleets, the converted B767 aircraft will augment our growing local and international cargo destinations with more load capacities. We have been working to expand our cargo operation as demand is expected to grow with the establishment of an e-commerce hub in Addis Ababa,” Tasew added.
Ethiopian had temporarily converted around 25 of its widebody passenger aircraft into freighters using its in-house MRO capability at the start of the pandemic.