Ethiopian ups its conversion rate

Dozens of Ethiopian Airlines aircraft maintenance technicians are working tirelessly on a Boeing B767-300 aircraft in one of the large modern hangars at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

The chilly weather doesn’t seem to deter them from their hard work. Young and energetic airframe technicians are welding, cutting, and painting the fuselage of the Ethiopian passenger B767-300 aircraft in a bid to convert it into a cargo freighter.

The aircraft belongs to Ethiopian Airlines, which phased out most of its Boeing 767 fleet, replacing the aircraft with B787s and A350s.

Ethiopian MRO, in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), is now conducting the first conversion work on the B767-300 aircraft.

“This is a very exciting moment for us,” said Kidus Melkamu, managing director of Ethiopian MRO. “In our 76-year history we are doing conversion work for the first time. We are the first MRO centre in Africa to convert a B767 jetliner into a cargo aircraft.”

In August 2021, Ethiopian Airlines and IAI signed a partnership agreement to set up a conversion centre in Addis Ababa, the hub of the national flag-carrier. The new IAI facility will serve as an extension of Ethiopian’s MRO centre, allowing it to convert Boeing 767-300 airliners into cargo aircraft.

According to IAI, the new site is going to become the largest conversion facility in Africa. It is the company’s third such centre, the other two being located at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, and in Mexico.

Ethiopian Airlines has a long history of operating and maintaining the Boeing 767. Although only three such jets remain in the carrier’s fleet, the company has flown the model continuously since 1996.

The B767-300 jetliner, which is being converted to cargo, had 260 seats. When conversion is complete it will be a freighter aircraft able to ferry up to 60 tonnes of cargo.

Ethiopian also plans to convert its remaining two B767 passenger aircraft.

According to Melkamu, the design work, engineering and conversion is done by IAI. “Ethiopian Airlines contracted them to convert the aircraft to cargo and we agreed to use our MRO centre as a facility to accommodate all the preparation for the conversion. We have deployed our own workforce. IAI is supervising and we do all the technical work.”

More than 100 Ethiopian technicians and engineers are working on the first conversion project on a full-time basis. Personnel from other departments join them to assist on the project. There are also about nine Israeli experts supporting them.

Avi Edri, IAI’s project manager, said: “The Ethiopian MRO team is amazing. All the technicians are well trained and qualified. The MRO centre and the hangars are well equipped and very clean.”

Edri believes that the Ethio-Israeli partnership will be a success. “We will do more conversion work. The facilities are excellent and the people are nice. So it is up to ET and IAI to move the project forward.”

However, the B767 conversion has not been easy. “It is a challenging project,” admitted Melkamu. “The conversion work requires high precision. If you make an error in this project it will be difficult to recover. So we have to be very precise.”

He added that the team had faced some challenges. “We have manufactured most of the tools in our facility. Since the hangar was not originally designed for conversion work, we have encountered some obstacles here and there. But we work with various departments and IAI experts and solve the problems.

“Challenges make us stronger. We at Ethiopian know how to work hard and win. That is what makes the project so exciting,” he said.   

Melkamu praised IAI’s well-developed engineering capability. “We are learning a lot from their rich experience in conversion work,” he said.

Ethiopian MRO is also planning to convert B777 and B737NG aircraft. “After developing our skills in converting B767s we will move to B777 and B737NG conversion work,” Melkamu revealed. “We will develop the capability for B777-300 ER passenger-to-cargo conversion.”

Ethiopian MRO Center operates six maintenance hangars and is in the process of building two more.

“Conversion work will be another line of business for us. We see a big opportunity in Africa and elsewhere,” concluded Melkamu.