Ethiopian Airlines has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner, dubbed "Africa First".
Outside of Japan, the airline is ahead of any airline in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East to operate the Dreamliner.
Ethiopian has placed a firm order for 10 Dreamliners and will be receiving five of them before December 2012.
Ethiopian Airlines chief executive, Tewolde Gebremariam, said at a ribbon cutting ceremony held in Everett, Washington, that the Dreamliner deal continued "our pioneering role in African aviation and is a testimony of the solid partnership we have forged with Boeing over many decades".
Ethiopian had previously announced that it would fly its first Dreamliner primarily on its African routes.
After receiving its second Dreamliner, Ethiopian plans to deploy the aircraft on its Washington D.C. route, starting from mid-September.
