Africair extends order – Ethiopian Airlines expands Continental Diesel Fleet
St. Egidien (Germany) – Continental Diesel Master Installation Center Africair, Inc. extends its latest order of CD-155 retrofit engine kits from three to ten. Africair equips new diesel powered Cessna 172 Skyhawks for Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy. The state-of-the-art diesel piston engine CD-155 is running with widely available Jet Fuel and is manufactured in the German plant of the Continental Motors Group, Ltd., an AVIC International Holding Corporation company.
“I am delighted by Africair’s decision to replace Lycoming avgas engines with Continental’s jet-fuel CD-155 engines. First and foremost, it underscores the fact diesel is the right choice, now, and for the future,” said Ken Suda, President, Continental Motors Germany. ”Not only is Africair independent from expensive, and increasingly scarce avgas in many markets, but Africair’s customers will also enjoy the benefits of CD-155’s industry-leading quality and reliability, fuel efficiency, and ease of operation.”
“Africair has a long history of supporting Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy dating back to 1977, when their first Skyhawk XP was delivered, and we have been continually supporting their operations ever since. Earlier this year, we delivered three diesel equipped Skyhawks to the Academy and we will be installing the Continental Diesel into seven more Cessna Skyhawk’s starting in early 2015, allowing Ethiopian, one of our most valued customers, the ability to take advantage of diesel power ownership in their flight schools,” said Lynne Keller, President of Africair, Inc.
Ethiopian Airlines will use their new Diesel 172’s to conduct flight training, averaging 6-7 hours per aircraft, per day during peak training. Recently, the Ethiopian Aviation Academy became an Authorized Training Center for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) after following a rigorous process facilitated by the IATA Training and Development Institute and the IATA Regional Office. Over a thousand candidates currently enroll in the academy per year and plans are underway to increase capacity to four thousand over the next decade. Each Cessna 172 has a computer port that allows a technician to download engine performance/operational data, which can then be easily reviewed by qualified technicians. Equipped with the Garmin 1000 avionics suite, students in the Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy will be able to train on the world’s most advanced platform and be able to transition easily to larger aircraft equipped with advanced glass cockpit displays. Above all, the addition of these Cessna Aircraft provides Ethiopian Airlines with a reliable, proven platform. The rugged 172 airframe has long been the preferred training aircraft throughout the world, enduring the demands imposed by rookie students for decades. Now equipped with an engine that burns readily available and inexpensive Jet-A fuel, the venerable 172 has become a necessary tool for any flight school wishing to conduct economical flight training with one of the world’s most trusted airframes. Africair and Propel have been performing diesel retrofits for more than a decade and are Master Installation Centers for Continental Motors Group.
