Summary

• Today, Ethiopian Airlines operates plenty of flagship widebody aircraft, such as the Airbus A350-900 or the Boeing 787-8 or 787-9.
• Ethiopian Airlines has operated 28 different aircraft types, including some unique aircraft.
• This includes jet and propeller-powered aircraft, such as the Antonov An-12.

Throughout the years, Ethiopian Airlines has evolved to be one of, if not the flagship airline of, the African continent. It has operated many iconic planes throughout its history and in the present day and age. Some of the more exciting types include the Airbus A350-900, including the incoming A350-1000, various iterations of the Boeing 777, Boeing 787-8, 787-9, and others.

At the same time, throughout its decades-long history, beginning in the 1940s, it has operated some obscure aircraft, with some types only being represented by a single aircraft, according to ch-aviation data, whose information will be used henceforth. In total, the carrier has operated 28 different aircraft types, which includes different cargo conversions of the same aircraft, including the Boeing 737-800 and two different conversions of the type, namely the Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) and Special Freighter (SF), as well as others.

5 McDonnell Douglas MD-11

Number of aircraft operated: one

• Delivered: August 25, 2009
• Fate: Scrapped in 2018
• Former registration: ET-AND

One such aircraft is the McDonnell Douglas MD-11, which Ethiopian Airlines operated for a brief stint before it was converted to a freighter. The African carrier took delivery of the jet, then registered as N588BC, on August 25, 2009, and converted it into a freighter on September 17, 2009.

The following day, the aircraft entered service as a freighter, joining another MD-11F registered as ET-AML. Both left the airline’s fleet in 2015, with ET-AND leaving Ethiopia on February 2, 2015, while ET-AML departed from the carrier’s operations on August 2, 2015. The pair were shipped to Victorville Southern California Logistics Airport (VCV), where at least ET-AND was scrapped in 2018, while ET-AML is shown as being retired at the same airport.

4 Boeing 727-200

Number of aircraft operated: one

• Delivered October 17, 1979
• Fate: Retired in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• Former registration: ET-AHM

Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of its single Boeing 727 aircraft in October 1979. Boeing delivered the tri-jet to the African carrier with the registration ET-AHM, and the airline operated the aircraft until August 1992. As of May 2015, the airframe had accumulated 49,452 flight hours (FH) and 30,772 flight cycles (FC), with ch-aviation citing Boeing as the data source.

Nevertheless, following the aircraft’s exit from Ethiopian Airlines, the Boeing 727-200 spent years in Canada, beginning its journey in the country in January 1997 as a converted freighter with AllCanada Express until May 2003. Subsequently, Cargojet Airways was the last operator of the type, with the 727 being registered as C-GUJC, now retired at John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM).

3 Boeing 737-400 Special Freighter (SF)

Number of aircraft operated: one

• Delivered: October 17, 1979
• Fate: Written off following an accident at Accra Kotoka International Airport (ACC)
• Former registration: ET-AQV

While Ethiopian Airlines has operated plenty of Boeing 737 types, including the 737-200 Original, the 737 Next Generation (NG), such as the 737-700 and 737-800, and the 737 MAX. The airline also had a single 737-400, also part of the 737 Classic family.

However, when Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of the aircraft, it was never a passenger aircraft. Prior to its delivery to Bole Addis Ababa International Airport (ADD), it was converted to a freighter, designated as the 737-400 Special Freighter (SF).

The airframe was written off following an incident at Accra Kotoka International Airport (ACC). According to the Aviation Safety Network, the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-400SF crashed at the airport while it was operating a flight on behalf of ASKY Airlines. The freighter was landing at ACC under poor visibility conditions, with the aircraft stopping off the runway with separate right-hand landing gear and engine.

2 Douglas DC-6

Number of aircraft operated: one

• Delivered: July 1978
• Fate: Scrapped in 2002
• Former registration: ET-AGY

The first out of two non-jet aircraft on the list is the Douglas DC-6. While ch-aviation has relatively little information about the aircraft’s history with Ethiopian Airlines, it is known that it was registered as ET-AGY and spent more than a few decades with the airline.

Meanwhile, AirHistory.net, which has a picture of the aircraft, said that the aircraft was initially delivered to Canadian Pacific Air Lines in September 1958, which was corroborated by ch-aviation. After spending a few decades in Canada, Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of the aircraft in 1978. After two years of operations, it was involved in the incident and relegated to being a training aircraft for a Ground Engineering School at ADD before it was eventually scrapped.

1 Antonov An-12

Number of aircraft operated: one

• Delivered: April 21, 2005
• Fate: Scrapped in 2018
• Former registration: LZ-SFI

At the top of the list is the Antonov An-12, which Ethiopian Airlines used for three years between April 2005 and March 2008. Interestingly, the aircraft was never registered in Ethiopia, and instead, Air Sofia, using the Bulgarian registration LZ-SFI, operated flights on behalf of the African airlines.

Still, the aircraft had a colorful history in its last decades, having started in the 2000s with a Moldova-based airline, Tiramavia, followed by a brief, one-year stint with DHL Air registered as ER-ADN. Its last registered stop was with S Group Aviation, a now-defunct Kyrgyzstan-based airline, with ch-aviation data showing that it operated the An-12 until May 2010.

• 

  Ethiopian Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  ET/ETH

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Addis Ababa Bole International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1945

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  CEO:

  Mesfin Tasew Bekele

  Country:

  Ethiopia