On the heels of its announcement earlier this week to procure Boeing 777-200LR and Airbus A350-900 aircraft, Ethiopian Airlines has become the first airline to unveil its interior configuration for its Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
Ethiopian Airlines, who is Boeing’s African launch customer for the type, will fly 270 passengers in a two-class configuration. Business class will carry 24 passengers in four rows of 2-2-2 seating. Economy class will seat nine-abreast in a 3-3-3 configuration seating a total 246 passengers.
According to the computer rendering of the aircraft’s interior on its specially design microsite, the Addis Ababa-based airline appears to have selected Contour’s Aura Premium Business Class Seats. Contour said in a June 2007 press release that the Aura seat had been selected by six 787 customers as part of Boeing’s Dreamliner Gallery 787 customization program.
For its economy cabin, it appears Ethiopian has opted for the highest density cross-section with Weber 5700 system seats. According to Weber, the 5700 seat can accomodate up to a 10.6-inch IFE screen in the seatback.
Ethiopian’s microsite touts a delivery date of 2010, though Boeing has yet to announce a new delivery schedule for its first delivery to launch customer All Nippon Airways, making the entry into service date for Ethiopian uncertain. The African airline had previously said that it would receive the first of its 787s in June of 2010.
Renderings Credit Ethiopian Airlines
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.