Ethiopian in bid to salvage 787 orders

Executives from Ethiopian Airlines are heading to the US last week to work with Boeing to salvage its order for 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The Addis Adaba weekly newspaper The Reporter has revealed that financiers for the order, Germany based DVB Bank and Dutch Banking giant ING, have pulled out as the result of the current global credit crunch. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper reports that the two banks pulled out of the financing deal as the agreement had expired before the deliveries of the Dreamliners.

The original order was placed In February 2005, and was valued at $1.3 billion at list prices. The first aircraft was scheduled for delivery to Addis Ababa iast year, but delays to the programme mean the deliveries have been pushed back to July 2010 at the earliest.

The Ethiopian airlines delegation is set to hold talks with Export-Import Bank (EX-IM), Boeing and other financiers.