Ethiopian Airlines has signed a $500 million partnership deal with Collins Aerospace, one of the world's largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products based in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The 25-year agreement covers maintenance of heat exchangers, air management systems and fuel metering units on 60 De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprops.

Within its strategic roadmap, Vision 2025, Ethiopian Airlines envisions making its MRO unit the leading service provider in Africa with revenue close to $600 million.

Ethiopian MRO unit has seen significant growth over the past decade and currently provides airframe maintenance on the Airbus A350, Boeing 737/757/767/777/787, Bombardier Q100/Q200/Q300/Q400, Diamond DA40/42 NG and Cessna 172 series training aircraft, including heavy maintenance checks and modifications.

The MRO facility also carries out scheduled A, B, C and D checks as well as unscheduled maintenance work and winglet installations on the 767 and 737.

Ethiopian MRO is the first African MRO to develop repair capability for GE Aviation’s GEnx engine, which powers the 787.

In addition, Ethiopian MRO has developed an engine overhaul capability for the CFM International CFM56-7B/3, Pratt & Whitney PW150A and Honeywell GTCP 331-200 and GTCP 131-9B auxiliary power units.