The Boeing 787 commercial flight made an earlier arrival than expected
A Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) aircraft landed at Ben-Gurion Airport for the first time last week with a commercial Ethiopian Airlines' flight from Addis Ababa.
It was the first commercial flight from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv using the new aircraft, which the company has already begun showing off with stops in the UAE and Mozambique recently.
According to company officials, the East African airlines will also begin weekly flights to Tel Aviv using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner this winter.
The debut flight of Ethiopian Airlines' Dreamliner from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv was expected on October 16. However, due to operational reasons cited by the company, the plane made its first stop in Israel earlier than expected.
The Ethiopian airline, considered one of the fastest growing airlines in Africa, has ordered 10 Dreamliner planes and has so far received two. Its fleet is expected to include five aircraft of this model by the end of 2012, and the remaining five are set to arrive during 2013. The airline, the first with the flagship Dreamliner in Africa is also use the plane for direct daily flights from Addis Ababa to Washington. In total, Ethiopia Airlines has ordered 10 Dreamliners, with five expected to be in service by the end of the year and the rest by 2014.
