Ethiopian Airlines AIRLINES E PACK
and Houston. Speaking in London, he expresses his frustration at his “irregular” slot times at Heathrow, but says any more slots there are “way beyond our means”. While London’s slot issues will remain an
issue for the foreseeable future, there are plenty of other markets open to the airline. Chengdu will be the airline’s sixth Chinese route and underlines China’s investment in Africa. “We first flew there in 1973 and were one of only four airlines in the western hemisphere to do so. Early morning in Addis, every single day, about 2,000 Chinese people pass through,” he says. At 2,400 metres, Addis’s elevation
provides technical challenges to the airline’s long-haul services, prompting it to seek partnerships with airports en route. US flights were previously routed via a tech stop at Rome Fiumicino, but a deal with Dublin Airport means that since May 2015, Washington, Toronto and Los Angeles services have stopped in Ireland, shaving 15 minutes off the journey. “Dublin Airport is progressive in its
business development strategy,” says GebreMariam. Only the LA flights have fifth freedom rights and pick up passengers there, and Ethiopian does not use the Irish facility’s immigration pre-clearance.
Transatlantic stopovers The Irish capital is not the only transatlantic stopover point. Ethiopian’s New York Newark flight will be routed via Togo’s Lomé airport, where GebreMariam hopes ASKY will feed it from the lucrative Nigeria and Ghana markets. The São Paulo flight was re-routed via Lomé in May. This is in part the reasoning behind
destinations by 2025, but we’re already flying to 92, 10 years ahead.” In terms of revenue and passengers, the airline has doubled in size in the past five years and at 7.6 million passengers last year, he says it is now Africa’s largest. “We have every reason to believe it will
continue this way,” he adds. He is probably right, given the difficulties of his rivals in Africa. EgyptAir and Kenya Airways are still hampered by their country’s perceived risk of terrorism, while South African Airways, at the continent’s tip, has geography and currency movements against it. On that account, GebreMariam names the Gulf carriers and Turkish Airlines as his main rivals but adds that for the benefit of the continent, he wants his fellow African airlines to grow. When it comes to Ethiopian’s own
growth, GebreMariam reels off the list of new and planned routes, with Jakarta, Hanoi, Singapore and Chengdu planned in Asia, plus Oslo, Geneva, Chicago
Ethiopian Airlines in numbers
92 destinations in five continents
20 domestic routes 76 aircraft 7.6 million passengers 330,000 tonnes of cargo $2.76 billion in revenue $175 million profit
the ASKY investment. ASKY, with seven aircraft leased from Ethiopian, serves 22 destinations in 20 West African states and, GebreMariam says, “is now profitable”. ASKY’s presence on these West African routes means Ethiopian can allow its partner to operate them, gaining both feed to long-haul flights and point-to- point revenue. There are still gaps in the network, however, as ASKY does not cover countries like Sierra Leone and Mauritania, while Ethiopian still lacks Namibia, Mauritius and Madagascar in its network. “We are almost covering sub-Saharan Africa, but North Africa is difficult for us because of the trade flow and the geography,” adds GebreMariam. Cargo is a big plank of Vision 2025. Addis is already exceeding its 250,000 tonnes annual capacity and in 18 months’ time, a new ¤115 million facility to handle 600,000 tonnes with parking for seven Boeing 777s will be complete. A second phase, costing ¤100 million, will
double this. “Being able to handle 1.2 million tonnes puts us on a par with Schiphol or Hong Kong,” adds GebreMariam.
w
routesonline.com ROUTES NEWS 2016 ISSUE 4 17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52