Ethiopian Airlines to manufacture parts in venture with Boeing

Jun 27, 2023

An Ethiopia’s Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 plane to take off on a demonstration trip to resume flights from the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia February 1, 2022. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri Acquire Licensing Rights

NAIROBI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Airlines will start manufacturing aircraft parts in a venture with Boeing (BA.N) at an initial cost of $15 million, the government's investment agency said on Friday.

The state-owned carrier, which is the biggest in Africa, has already signed the deal that also involves the local state Industrial Parks Development Corporation, the Ethiopian Investment Commission said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The venture will make "aerospace parts, including aircraft thermo-acoustic insulation blankets, electrical wire harnesses, and other parts," the commission said.

"The investment project is expected to create employment opportunities for more than 300 Ethiopians," it said.

The commission did not say when production will begin. There was no immediate comment from Boeing.

Other African carriers like Kenya Airways (KQNA.NR) have said that a shortage of parts, caused by the Ukraine war crisis which cut supply of Russian titanium that is an important component of global aviation, has led to flight disruptions.

It was not immediately clear if Ethiopian Airlines has also suffered from similar lack of parts.

The airline, which has a fleet of 140 aircraft, said in June that its earnings rose by a fifth to $6.1 bln in its latest financial year.

Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Angus MacSwan

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