Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Boeing (BOE, Washington National) for eight B777-9s with purchase rights for twelve additional B777X aircraft.

The carrier did not disclose any delivery timeline and did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment.

The order, once finalised, is poised to become the first B777X commitment from Africa. The entry into service of the type, which has yet to be certified, is currently scheduled for late 2025.

The ch-aviation fleets module shows that Ethiopian Airlines already operates a sizeable Boeing fleet, comprising four B737-700s, sixteen B737-8s, ten B737-800s, one B737-800(BCF), three B737-800(SF)s, one B767-300ER, two B767-300ER(BDSF)s, ten B777-200Fs, six B777-200(LR)s, four B777-300(ER)s, nineteen B787-8s, and ten B787-9s. It has unfilled orders for a further thirty-five B737-8s, four B777-200Fs, and eleven B787-9s.

Since 2016, the airline has also operated Airbus widebodies and currently has twenty A350-900s with outstanding orders for eleven more -900s and four A350-1000s. Ethiopian also operates thirty DHC-8-Q400s.

The state-owned carrier aims to double its fleet to 271 aircraft by 2035.