Ethiopian upgrades Boeing 767 fleet

Ethiopian Airlines Group has refurbished its Boeing 767-300ERs with new seating and inflight entertainment systems.

The carrier has six 767-300ERs, which it uses on Indian, Middle Eastern and African routes.

The aircraft have been fitted with new flat-bed seats in a 2-2-2 configuration in its Cloud Nine business cabin, high-resolution 17-inch screens and in-seat power outlets, together with improved lighting.

Passengers in the main cabin will have new seats and multiple channels of inflight audio and video entertainment accessible with their personal electronic devices.

The improvements were essential for a “customer-focused and market-driven airline,” Ethiopian Group CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said, who added that refitting the six aircraft cost more than $6 million.

“By December 2017, all our Boeing 767 fleet will be fitted with flat-bed seats in Cloud Nine with access to a range of video programming available for wireless streaming in all cabins.” The new systems and fittings were installed by Ethiopian MROs’ own engineering and maintenance team.

Ethiopian Airlines has a 92-strong fleet with an average age of five years. Future re-equipment plans include 19 Airbus A350-900s, four Boeing 787-9s and five Bombardier Q400 turboprops.