Flight Africa Blog: Ethiopian Receives the First Q-400 Next Generation turboprop Aircraft

Ethiopian Receives the First Q-400 Next Generation turboprop Aircraft

10:27 AM nero

The Ethiopian national airline has just taken delivery of the first of several ordered Q400 aircraft, manufactured by Canadian company Bombardier. The Q400 is a fuel-efficient and relatively fast turbo-prop aircraft, well suited to fly on domestic and shorter regional routes where the traffic volume and the condition of a destination’s airfield or aerodrome may not permit the use of a small jet aircraft like the B737.

Ethiopian Airlines will take delivery of as many as 8 such new airliners in the future. The configuration of these aircraft will be an all-economy cabin with 78 seats in total. It could not be ascertained if the airline is considering adding more Bombardiers to their fleet beyond this single order

The new 78 seater aircraft will support the ever increasing tourism market of the country and domestic business travel, which is growing fast along side the economy. Besides, the aircraft will serve Ethiopian regional routes.Currently, Ethiopian provides domestic flight service with Boeing 737 and Fokker aircraft to its 17 domestic destinations.