13 November 2007
News from the Dubai Airshow: Cessna has announced the sale of ten diesel-powered C172 Skyhawk TDs to Ethiopian Airlines. The airline will use the aircraft for its training school, based in Addis Ababa. The school is one of the premier training organisations in Africa.
Cessna announced the introduction of the diesel-engined 172 at this year’s AOPA Expo in September; the engine the aircraft will use is a 155 hp Centurion 2.0 from German company Thielert Aircraft Engines.
The airline says that the decision to use diesel engines was based on several considerations, including the fact that Jet-A1 is much more common and the operating costs of the diesel are much lower.
