Ethiopian Temporarily Pulls 787 Fleet out of Service for Precautionary Inspection as per US FAA Directive

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Ethiopian Temporarily Pulls 787 Fleet out of Service for Precautionary Inspection as per US FAA Directive

Tigrai Online Jan. 17, 2013

Following the directive of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Ethiopian has decided to temporarily pull its B787 Dreamliners out of service for precautionary inspection on Thursday, January 17, 2013.

Ethiopian is the first African and the third airline in the world to own and operate the Dreamliner. Since their entry into service, Ethiopian Dreamliners have been performing well bringing the ultimate travel experience to its passengers.

The US FAA issued a directive on January 16, 2013 that mandates operators to perform special inspection requirements on the Dreamliner airplane battery system in accordance with a method approved by it. This directive was issued following recent incidents that occurred on Dreamliner airplanes operated by two other airlines.

Ethiopian Dreamliners have not encountered the type of problems such as those experienced by the other operators. However, as an extra precautionary safety measure and in line with its commitment of putting safety above all else, Ethiopian has decided to pull out its four Dreamliners from operation and perform the special inspection requirements mandated by the US FAA.

The airline has been operating the Dreamliner since mid-August last year. Ethiopian Dreamliners have been performing well in the five months service logging record length of non-stop flights and record high daily aircraft utilization in the industry. Since it first received the Dreamliner, Ethiopian has logged 5,560 flight hours with average daily aircraft utilization of 14 hours.

Ethiopian is working closely with Boeing to comply with the US FAA approved special inspection procedure on the battery system and perform the maintenance as per the directive. The airline aims to return the Dreamliners to service as soon as possible, after full compliance with the new procedure.

Ethiopian would like to apologize to its esteemed passengers for any inconvenience this may cause in their travel experience.

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing airline in Africa, made its maiden international flight to Cairo in 1946 and now the Airline provides dependable services to 70 international destinations spanning four continents.

Ethiopian is proud to be a Star Alliance Member. The Star Alliance network is the leading global airline network offering customers convenient worldwide reach and a smoother travel experience. The Star Alliance network offers more than 21,555 daily flights to 1,356 airports in 193 countries.

Ethiopian is a multi-award winner for its commitment and contributions towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry and in recognition of its distinguished long-haul operations enhanced by the introduction of new routes and products. Recently, Ethiopian won "Airline Reliability Performance Award" from the Bombardier Aerospace; "African Airline of the Year Award" from Air Transport Quarterly Magazine; "Transformation Award 2012" from Planet Africa Network; "International Diamond Prize for Excellence in Quality" from the European Society for Quality Research (ESQR). Also Captain Desta Zeru, Vice-President of Flight Operations, won "Africa Legend of Travel" award from African Travel Quarterly (ATQ) magazine; and Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, won "African CEO of the year" from the African CEO Forum as well as "African Business Leader of the Year" award from the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).

With its acquisition of and firm orders for several new modern fleet, the airline is well positioned to pursue aggressively the implementation of its 2025 strategic plan to become the leading aviation group in Africa.

For more information about this press release, please contact:

Manager PR & Publications

Ethiopian Airlines

Tel: (251-1) 517-84-07

publicrelations@ethiopianairlines.com