Ethiopian Airlines Airbus 350. PHOTO: TWITTER/FAAN
Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has won the Aviation 100’s African Lease Deal of the Year award at the Airline Economics Growth Frontiers 2018 conference recently held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ET won the award based on a deal with Japanese financing system, JOLCO, which financed the airlines’ A350 aircraft.
The Aviation 100 awards recognised aviation’s most outstanding
performers, as well as the most innovative and successful finance and
leasing deals closed in the last 12 months. Winners of the Aviation 100
awards were decided by an industry-wide survey, a rigorous vetting
process and editorial consideration.
Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tewolde
Gebremariam, said it was the first time the Japanese financing system,
JOLCO, financed an aircraft deal with an African airline.
Gebremariam said the deal showed the strong confidence of reputed
global financiers in Ethiopian balance sheet and business plan.It will
be recalled that Ethiopian Airlines had received Middle East &
Africa Airline of the Year award in 2017 by Airline Economics. Ethiopian
is a multi-award winning carrier crowned with Four Star certification
by SKYTRAX last year, Airline of the Year awards by AFRAA as well as
multiple accolades for its outstanding passenger and cargo transport
services.
