Will Ethiopian Order the Airbus A350-1000, or Boeing 777X?

atwonline.com/airframes/ceo-ethi … oeing-777x

The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines is planning to order up to 20 Widebody jets, and they are evaluating the Airbus A350-1000, and Boeing 777X. The question is, which jet will they most likely order? He also didn’t clearly state which 777X variant the airline would order. Which variant do you think it’d be?

My guess is the Boeing 777-8X. They are already operating a total of 12 (6 B77Ls, 2 B77Ws with 2 more on order, 4 B77Fs with 1 more on order), and they are looking to use the aircraft for growth. My reason is basically commonality. And they have been Boeing 777 operators for a while now. When they first ordered 5 B77Ls, they were going to use it for growth as well. So the B778X would be a good aircraft for that category. But that is just my opinion.

What do you guys think?

While the 777-8X equates to the 77W’s current pax capacity, I think it will be more than likely that Ethiopian buys both of the aircraft types. Historically Ethiopian has been a Boeing return-customer, but you never know. Ethiopian may surprise us. I think strategically, Ethiopian should get more 788’s and possibly order 2-3 789’s to stay on top within their sector of the market. I hope this helps.