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2017: Ethiopian airlines set to launch services into 7 countries between February and June

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In continuation of its expansion route plans, Africa’s largest airline group, Ethiopian Airlines, is delighted to announce that it has concluded preparations to start new flight to Chengdu, China three times weekly as of June 3, 2017. Chengdu is the capital of China’s Sichuan province and is the 7th-largest city in China.

Chengdu is the country’s western center of logistics, commerce, science and technology, as well as a hub of transportation, manufacturing and communication. Chengdu is also a major hub for Air China, Ethiopian Airlines’ Star Alliance partner. With this new flight, passengers from Ethiopian vast and growing network in Africa will be able to quickly connect to dozens of cities in China partnership with Air China, including Shenzhen, Kunming, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Changsha, and Urumqi.

Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “We are glad to launch services to Chengdu, our fifth gateway to The Republic of China. Since our first flight 43 years ago, China has been a key market and it is now the largest per country market in our system. Using the geocentric location advantage of our hub in Addis Ababa we are connecting China, the world’s second largest economy and Africa’s biggest trade and investment partner, with 52 cities in the continent of Africa. With the addition of Chengdu, we shall offer the best and fastest connectivity options with a total of 34 weekly flights to China, operated with the latest and most comfortable B787 and B777 aircraft. Our Chinese customers will also enjoy seamless connection on Ethiopian vast intra African network and farther to São Paulo in Brazil.”

Ethiopian is investing to make Addis Ababa a Chinese friendly hub airport for the continent. We now have Mandarin translators and signage available at the airport transit area and in the Cloud Nine Business Class Lounge.

Chinese New Year is also marked every year at Addis Abba Airport. Ethiopian was the first African carrier and the fourth in the world to fly to China back in 1973. In addition to the three weekly flights to Chengdu to be launched in June, Ethiopian currently operates daily nonstop flights to Beijing, 10 weekly nonstop to Guangzhou, and 6 weekly nonstop to Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines, is delighted to announce that it will launch seven new destinations within five months during the 2017 calendar year. This is one of the greatest expansions in Ethiopian’s long and illustrious history.

From February to June, Ethiopian will launch new service to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Conakry (Guinea), Oslo (Norway), Chengdu (China), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Singapore (Singapore). With the addition of these stations, Ethiopian will have service from Addis Ababa to 98 different international cities located across the world.

Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “Africa’s share of the Global Aviation is the smallest which is only around 3%. As the largest airline group in the continent, we are highly concerned on the low base of air connectivity in the continent and we are setting record expansion to enable Africans enjoy safe, reliable and economical air connectivity both within the continent and between the continent and the rest of the world. Looking beyond the current economic slowdown especially in the oil export dependent economies of Africa, we firmly believe that the continent will become the magnet for foreign direct investment, trade and tourism, which are the engines of air travel growth and in turn efficient air connectivity also drives socio economic development and we are happy to contribute our share in the 21st Century African Transformation.”

In the just ended calendar year alone, new flights to Moroni (Comoros), WindHoek (Namibia) and Newark (United States) were launched, as well as three cities in Ethiopia: Hawassa, Kebridahar and Dembidolo. Ethiopian is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, and we are expanding our wings every year. Ethiopian envisages to reach 120 international destinations worldwide by the year 2025. 98 down, 22 to go!

About Ethiopian
Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its seven decades of operation, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.

Ethiopian commands the lion’s share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to 95 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as Airbus A350, Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, Bombardier Q-400 double cabin with an average fleet age of five years. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft. Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centers: Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.

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