Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) is actively seeking long-range widebodies such as A350s or B787s on a lease or lease-to-own basis to launch long-haul services to Australia, according to Telila Deressa Gutema, the airline's regional manager in the Asia-Pacific region.

"I have been driving forward our strategic goal of expanding our services to Australia. The groundwork has been laid, and the stage is set for this significant milestone. The missing piece of the puzzle? The aircraft," he said in a social media post. Gutema urged all lessors and owners with A350s or B787s available for lease or sale to get in touch.

Last month, Group CEO Mesfin Tasew told ch-aviation that Ethiopian Airlines' widebody orders had been hit by production delays at both Airbus and Boeing. He said outstanding orders for eleven A350-900s and eleven B787-9s are now scheduled for delivery starting in 2028, a year later than initially expected. In addition, the delivery of eight B777-9s, due in 2027, has been delayed by six months. Tasew also confirmed that the delivery of one A350-1000 has been delayed to August 2025, caused by a late business class seat delivery to Airbus from the supplier.

In the meantime, he added, Ethiopian Airlines is mitigating the capacity gap between now and the end of 2027 by purchasing two "white tail" A350-900s from a Chinese airline and is turning to lessors, with one B787 scheduled for delivery in January next year from AerCap.