Ethiopian Orders Eight 777-8 Freighters, Joining Qatar on the Type

Ethiopian Airlines has placed a firm order with Boeing for eight 777-8 Freighters and two 777 Freighters, the two companies announced on 30 September. The deal makes the Addis Ababa-based carrier the first airline in Africa to order the 777-8F.

It is Ethiopian’s second order for the 777X family. The airline had already bought eight 777-9 passenger jets, which made it Africa’s first 777X customer.

The aircraft

Boeing describes the 777-8F as the world’s largest and most capable twin-engine freighter, with a maximum structural payload of 118 tonnes. The manufacturer says it offers the highest payload and range of any freighter while using less fuel, and the lowest operating cost per tonne.

The 777-8F keeps key features of today’s 777F, including common cross-sections, walkways and the ability to carry large outsize cargo. Boeing says these shared features support efficient operations, high utilisation and reliability, which matters for an airline adding the new type alongside its existing 777Fs.

Like the rest of the 777X family, the 777-8F is powered exclusively by the GE Aerospace GE9X engine.

Mesfin Tasew, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, said the new aircraft will bring greater payload capacity, flexibility and efficiency as cargo demand grows, and will strengthen Ethiopia’s position as a cargo gateway between Africa and international markets. Brad McMullen, Boeing’s senior vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing, said the order showed growing demand for air cargo worldwide.

Ethiopian’s current cargo fleet

According to Boeing, Ethiopian today connects more than 70 cargo markets across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America, using:

• 12 Boeing 777 Freighters
• two 767 Freighters
• four 737-800SF converted freighters

Boeing says the new aircraft will complement this fleet and give the airline more flexibility to meet rising demand.

The Gulf comparison

The 777-8F was launched by a Gulf carrier. In January 2022, Qatar Airways became the global launch customer, ordering 34 777-8 Freighters with options for 16 more, along with two additional 777Fs. Alongside that order, Qatar committed to GE9X and GE90-115B engines and a services agreement valued at more than US$6.8 billion at list price.

Ethiopian’s order for eight aircraft is less than a quarter of Qatar’s 34 firm orders. But it puts another major hub carrier on the same next-generation freighter. Like the big Gulf cargo operators, Ethiopian runs a hub-based network linking Africa with Asia, Europe and the Middle East, so the two will be flying the same new type in overlapping markets.

The 777-8F also competes with Airbus’s A350F, which made its first flight on 29 September and has ten aircraft on order from Etihad Airways.

What it means for engineering

For MRO providers, each 777-8F order adds to the future GE9X fleet that will need shop visits and support. With Qatar Airways and now Ethiopian on the freighter, and Gulf carriers among the largest 777-9 customers, the region’s engine shops have a growing reason to build GE9X capability.