By Shreya Shimpi
Providing seamless connectivity between India and Africa for passengers as well as cargo operations, Ethiopian Airlines has played a successful role in promoting bilateral human and cultural ties between the two nations facing all the challenges with resilience and achieving this milestone.
Ethiopian Airlines made its debut flight to Mumbai back in 1971 which was once a week and today, five decades later it has progressed to double daily flights to Mumbai which is remarkable. Over the years, Ethiopian has grown exponentially having expanded its operations to three passenger destinations which are Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, and five cargo destinations.
As a part of their anniversary celebration, Lemma Yadecha Gudeta, Chief Commercial Officer of Ethiopian announced a new flight connecting Chennai to Addis Ababa and the rest of the world from 2nd July 2022 which will have around 144 seats for the economy and 16 seats reserved for business class.
He expressed his gratitude to the Indian government for their continuous support during all these 50 years and especially for the pandemic which has helped connect the two nations.
When asked about the major challenges faced by the airline during the pandemic Gudeta told BOTT, “We saw the pandemic as an opportunity rather than a challenge. We removed seats from our passenger flights and loaded them with cargo and continued our operations with agility despite the innumerable traffic restrictions and the high cost of travel. We provided the best travel experience in those difficult times and were among the top four airlines to make a profit despite the hurdles. From 75 flights per week to being able to fly only 430 passengers a week it was an arduous task but with an addition of 8 new aircraft and a total of 175 flights we hope to resume normal operations by February next year.”
Adding another feather, Tigish Eshetu, Regional Head of the Indian Sub Continent would be the first woman from Ethiopian to spearhead the operations as they enter their 50th year. She spoke about how the Ethiopian plans to diversify the passenger and cargo operations with constant technological progress to provide an unparalleled flying experience.
Ambassador Doctor Tizita Malugeta said, “Ethiopian Airlines has been instrumental in strengthening the ties between India and Africa by enabling people to travel to Ethiopia for business and tourism, facilitating the smooth import of medicines and machinery by India and export of various agricultural products from Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the first African country to open its Embassy in India”.
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