Ethiopian Airlines has agreed to purchase 10 training aircraft, with the initial batch to be delivered before the end of this year. The flag carrier is to acquire Diamond Aircraft DA40NGs as well as a simulator.
Ethiopian values the agreement at €3.7 million ($4.9 million) and says that the first four aircraft will be delivered in November. The remainder should arrive within eight months of the deal, which was finalised at the end of July.
Ethiopian chief Girma Wake says the new aircraft will "enable us to maintain our ongoing training to the highest international level". The airline's aviation academy emerged from a pilot-training school set up in 1964.
Ethiopian Airlines says the training fleet includes 10 Cessna 172s and a pair of twin-engined Piper Aztecs.
Source: Flight International
