As the first African airlines with flights to China, Ethiopian Airlines has been committed to building air-bridges between China and Africa for 41 years - since February 21, 1973. The airlines helps promote exchanges and collaborations on the economy, trade, tourism and culture between the two continents.
China is an important strategic partner of Africa. In 2012, the total investment China made in Africa reached USD 46 billion, and the bilateral trade volume of the two regions was up to USD199 billion.
Ms. Konjit Tedla, Ethiopian Airlines' chief representative in China, Mongolia and North Korea, is confident that the Chinese market has a promising future. She said, "As a truly African airline, our goal is to connect Africa with financial, industrial and business centers around the world, and China is among such centers. With the bilateral trade flourishing and the investment environment thriving, Ethiopian decided to use state-of-the-art aircraft to shuttle between China and Africa and serve as the major driving force of Sino-African economic development. We will continue to promote the relationship between the two continents as a vital air bridge." In addition to business passengers, Konjit Tedla also expects to attract more Chinese tourists to take Ethiopian flights to experience glamorous Africa.
Founded in 1945, Ethiopian is based in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. Ethiopian is the national airlines of Ethiopia, and also the most profitable and fastest growing airline in Africa. Over almost seven decades, Ethiopian has become one of the continent's leading carriers, commanding the lion's share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network.
Currently 28 flights fly from China's Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong airports to Addis Ababa. The daily flights from Shanghai are served by a Boeing 787, while the Beijing and Guangzhou flights use a Boeing 777. It is believed China has become the most significant overseas market of Ethiopian.
As the most convenient aviation hub between China and Africa, Addis Ababa is the perfect place from which to transfer to other African venues. Ethiopian has the broadest route networks in Africa, covering 18 domestic destinations in Ethiopia, 49 locales in the rest of the African continent and a total of over 82 destinations across the world with over 200 daily departures.
Ethiopian has won a number of awards in the airline industry. In 2013, Ethiopian won Skytrax World Airline Award for Best Airline Staff Service in Africa. In the same year, it won the titles of "The Best Crew in Africa" and “The Best Airlines in Africa," selected by the Pan-African Award Committee. It was also honored as "The Best Regional Airlines" by Airline Passenger Experience Association-APEX.
In December, 2011, Ethiopian officially joined the largest airline alliance in the world – Star Alliance. Since then, it has cooperated with Air China and Shenzhen Airlines by code sharing to provide seamless services for passengers. With the international route networks of Star Alliance, the airlines can reach 1,316 airports in 192 countries.
Ethiopian was the first airlines outside Japan to receive the Boeing 787 Dreamliner back in August, 2012. It now has nine 787-7 Dreamliners. The newest will be in service by the end of 2014.
The newly designed Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the world's most advanced commercial aircraft, enhancing passenger experience with greater comfort, reduced noise, more legroom, bigger windows, and higher cabin humidity, as well as a unique adaptable lighting system. Boeing 787 is used in routes across Africa, Brazil, Europe, the United States, Canada and China.
Ethiopian operates with the youngest fleet in the continent with an average age of less than seven years. Besides Dreamliner, the fleet of Ethiopian includes Boeing 777-300ER passenger aircraft, Boeing 777-200LR passenger aircraft and cargo aircraft and Bombardier Q-400. In addition, there are 14 Airbus A350-90s and two Boeing 777-300ERs ordered, and another 32 aircraft will join the young and advanced fleet in batches.
Based on the rapid growth in Africa, Ethiopian developed "Vision 2025." The vision was divided into seven parts: increasing revenue to USD 10 billion; having profit of USD 1 billion; covering 90 international and 26 domestic destinations; expanding fleet size to 120 aircraft; transporting 18 million passengers annually; increasing cargo handling capacity to 820,000 tons; and recruiting staff to reach 17,000 employees. By 2025, Ethiopian will be the leading airline in Africa with seven major business sectors: domestic and regional passenger transport; international passenger transport; cargo transport; maintenance and service of aircraft; aviation academy of Ethiopia; in-flight catering; and ground service.
(By Jessie Huang, Louis Berney)