Boeing has announced that it will establish its new African headquarter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, scheduled to open this year.
The decision positions Ethiopia ahead of Kenya and South Africa as the preferred location for the aerospace giant’s latest expansion plans in Africa, a continent expected to have a rapidly expanding air travel industry in the years and decades ahead.
In preparation for this move, Boeing had earlier appointed Henok Shawl, a former executive at Ethiopian Airlines, as the managing director for its African division.
Shawl brings extensive experience in aviation and telecommunications, having recently served as the chief external affairs officer at Safaricom Telecommunication Ethiopia for six months.
According to Boeing’s website, “Africa’s abundant natural resources and burgeoning young workforce are poised to drive significant growth in air traffic and airplane demand over the next two decades”.
Ethiopian Airlines, the largest carrier in Africa, has reached an agreement to purchase up to 20 of Boeing Co.’s 777X aircraft, providing the coming jet with an important endorsement from one of Africa’s premier airlines.
The airline is currently building a new expanded airport hub in preparation for Africa’s expanding aviation industry. The airline is also expanding its repair, maintenance, and training facilities.
Boeing projects that intra-African passenger traffic will more than quadruple in the next twenty years, placing the continent’s growth among the highest globally. To support this, 1,025 new airplanes will be needed over the next two decades.
In 2022, Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the intent to purchase five 777-8 Freighters, the industry’s newest, most capable and most fuel-efficient twin-engine freighter.
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