$41.1m for Ethiopian funds Boeing 777F buy

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Ethiopian Airlines has secured a $41.4 million seven-year junior loan facility from ING Capital to part-fund the acquisition of two Boeing 777 Freighters.

The senior debt is supported by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), and was provided by another financial institution with ING as their co-arranger. The junior lender benefits from a second priority interest in the security package which secures both the Ex-Im Bank and junior loan financing.

ING Capital was the sole arranger and lender of the junior loan financing and will also act as the agent throughout the term of the transaction. The financing closed concurrently with the delivery of the first aircraft on 31 October. The second aircraft arrived in Addis Ababa on 21 November.

“The financial support for our acquisition of the two 777 Freighter aircraft is critical to Ethiopian Airlines as we aim to sustain our position as the largest cargo operator in Africa”, says chief financial officer, Nega Mekonnen. “These aircraft will help us increase our capacity and service quality for the ever growing perishable cargo market.” 

Terina Golfinos, managing director and head of ING Capital’s structured export finance team in New York, adds that the bank is delighted to close this financing for Ethiopian Airlines, and to, “contribute in some small measure to their ongoing success as the regional carrier of choice.”

This year, Ethiopian has phased-in 14 additional aircraft, including five Boeing 787 Dreamliners, one Boeng 737-800, one Boeing 777-300, two 777F and four Bombardier Q-400.Ethiopian Airlines has launched a mobile Short Message Service (SMS) information system. The new service will allow customers in Ethiopia to check flight status and cargo shipment information by sending a mobile short code SMS text to the ethiotelecom 8611 messaging number instead of having to call Ethiopian central call centre. 

 

The service will allow Ethiopian customer to check flight availability, departure/arrival time, flight status and cargo shipment tracking information instantly, at the standard ethiotelecom SMS charge. Additional features will be added to the mobile SMS service in the near future.


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