What Are The Oldest Aircraft In Ethiopian Airlines’ Fleet?  – Simple Flying 06:37

BY STEVEN WALKER

Let’s take a closer look at some of the oldest of Ethiopian Airlines’ 130 aircraft.

Ethiopian Airlines has undergone impressive expansion in recent years, and is today the largest airline in Africa, with a total fleet of 130 aircraft. From its hub at Bole International Airport (ADD) in Addis Ababa, the Star Alliance member operates a mixture of narrowbody and widebody aircraft to over 80 countries worldwide.

The average age of Ethiopian Airlines’ fleet is 10.9 years old, according to data from ch-aviation.com. For comparison, Egyptair, the second-largest African carrier also has an average fleet age of 10.9 years old, and for Royal Air Maroc, the continent’s third-largest airline, the figure stands at 13.5 years old.

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The airline’s oldest passenger aircraft

The oldest single passenger aircraft currently in Ethiopian Airlines’ fleet is a 19.2-year-old Boeing 737-700, registered at ET-ALK. The aircraft was delivered new to the airline in November 2003, and seats a total of 118 passengers in a two-class configuration – 102 in economy class and 16 in business class. ET-ALK regularly flies to regional destinations, and in the past week has been to the likes of Dar Es Salaam (DAR), Juba (JUB), and Khartoum (KRT).

Photo: Aldo Bidini via Wikimedia Commons

Ethiopian Airlines’ next oldest passenger aircraft is ET-ALP, a Boeing 767-300ER, coming in at 17.6 years old. ET-ALP is the airline’s last remaining passenger Boeing 767-300ER, and is due to be retired from passenger service by the end of January 2023 and converted to a freighter. Until then it will continue to operate to a variety of destinations, including Bangui (BGF), Dhaka (DAC), and Djibouti (JIB).

The airline’s oldest turboprop aircraft is a Dash 8-Q400, registered as ET-ANI, which is 13 years old. The average age of the rest of Ethiopian Airlines’ Dash 8-Q400 fleet is, however, relatively young at just 6.7 years old.

Photo: Croatorum | Shutterstock

The oldest aircraft type

If looking at the oldest aircraft type in Ethiopian Airlines’ passenger fleet, rather than at individual aircraft, the Boeing 737-700 also comes out on top, with an average age of 17.4 years old. The carrier currently has five active Boeing 737-700s in its fleet.

Next in line is the Boeing 777-200LR, which has an average age of 11.5 years old. There are six Boeing 777-200LRs in Ethiopian Airlines’ fleet, the oldest (ET-ANN) being 12.2 years old. Each aircraft seats a total of 315 passengers in a two-class configuration – 287 in economy class and 28 in business class. Despite its long-range capabilities, ET-ANN has primarily operated short to medium-haul flights over the past week, including the airline’s one-stop service to Dakar (DSS) via Bamako (BKO), according to data from FlightRadar24.com.

The third-oldest aircraft type in Ethiopian Airlines’ passenger fleet is the Boeing 787-8, of which the carrier has 19. Their average age is 8.5 years old, with the airline receiving delivery of its first Boeing 787-8 in July 2013.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Discover the latest Ethiopian Airlines news here.

The oldest of them all – a cargo Boeing 737-800

However, by far the oldest of Ethiopian Airlines’ 130 aircraft is a cargo Boeing 737-800 (ET-AVX), which is 23.9 years old. The aircraft was first delivered to Air Berlin in 1999, and later operated for Corendon Airlines before being converted to a freighter aircraft and joining the Ethiopian Airlines fleet in 2019.