Ethiopian Airlines 777-200
Rob Finlayson
Ethiopian Airlines Group has invested $100 million in expanding and upgrading its aviation academy at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. The Ethiopia flag carrier said this project is in line with its Vision 2025 strategic road map and is the largest aviation academy in Africa. It will be able to take 4,000 students a year at the end of 2025.
As an Authorized Training Organization, the Ethiopian Aviation Academy offers Boeing 777, 787, 737, 767/757 and Bombardier Q400 full flight simulators. The carrier is also considering extending its training center to add an Airbus A350 simulator.
“We have already started discussions with Airbus and CAE,” Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told ATW recently. It offers also a full range of fleet cabin emergency, evacuation and door trainers, fitted with standard swimming pool for cabin crew ditching exercises and more than 20 pilot training aircraft.
In other news, a new cargo terminal at Bole airport is expected to be operational toward the end of 2016. The facility will have an annual storage of 1.2 million tons with the capacity to handle eight Boeing 747-8Fs at one time. Construction of the first phase will cost $150 million.
Ethiopian’s rapidly growing fleet, which has an average age of five years, is structured around the Boeing 787, 777-300ER, 777-200LR, 777-200F and dual-class Q400s. It is also planning to take up to 25 A350s, with 14 already on order.