Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) CEO Tewolde Gebremariam says his airline would lease, rather than acquire, between six and eight early model B787-8s from Boeing (BOE, Washington National). In February, the Ethiopian national carrier was linked, along with Réunionaise operator Air Austral (UU, St. Denis de la Réunion), to separate deals for so-called "Terrible Teen" B787s.
“We want to lease them but we will not purchase them. The issue is still under discussion,” Tewolde told The Reporter newspaper.
RwandAir (WB, Kigali) was also touted as a potential customer for the jets but its recent decision to acquire A330s from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) appears to have negated that option.
The "Terrible Teens" are early production B787s Boeing was forced to rework and modify after flight tests identified a number of faults including an electric-panel fire and structural weakness where the jet’s wings melded with its body. As a result of the necessary modifications, the aircraft incurred a 1'600km range penalty rendering them less marketable than later models.
At present, Ethiopian operates a fleet of eleven B787-8s using them on flights throughout Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
