Ethiopian Airlines is at the “final stage” of discussions to convert four of its Airbus A350-900 commitments to the larger variant of the twinjet.
The carrier’s chief executive Mesfin Tasew made the observation during the Farnborough air show on 20 July, where he was marking the signing of a landing-gear maintenance deal with Boeing Global Services.
“We are seriously considering to convert four of the existing orders for the A350 aircraft from -900 to -1000,” Tasew says.
“It is at final stage of discussions.”
Ethiopian has long discussed placing an order for either the A350-1000 or Boeing 777X.
Earlier this year, it signed a tentative agreement to take five 777X freighters.
Cirium fleets data suggests Ethiopian has 18 A350-900s in service, with six outstanding firm orders.
