AVIATION: Ethiopian Airlines places order for 10 Airbus planes

Ethiopian Airlines has placed an order for 10 Airbus A350-900 airplanes, it said on Tuesday, in addition to at least another 10 it already has on order.
The extra A350-900s will be deployed on the airline's long-haul routes connecting Addis Ababa with destinations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Chief Executive Tewolde GebreMariam said in a statement.
The state-owned carrier is ranked the largest in Africa by revenue and profit by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global industry body.
It wants to increase revenue to $10 billion by 2025 and expand its fleet to 140 aircraft from less than 90 now, with sights set on Asia. It has placed orders for 50 planes altogether.
In February, Tewolde told Reuters the airline's revenue rose 10.3 percent to 54.5 billion birr ($2.43 billion) in the 2015/16 fiscal year, while passenger numbers climbed 18 percent to 7.6 million. Net profit was up 70 percent at 6 billion birr.
©Reuters News