Woldemariam told journalists in Abuja that: “It’s an important aspect of our services that we’re looking into and will be introducing a variety of meals like jollof rice, beans amongst others, to meet the different needs of our clients in our 1,330 weekly flights and 200 daily departures.”
Woldemariam said “we’re a pan-African airline connecting 49 countries around the continent to the rest of the world and have a record 6,000,000 passengers annually. We’re yet to include Australia to our list of destinations.”
The airline, fully owned by the Ethiopian government, serves 82 international destinations and 18 domestic destinations, operating the newest and youngest fleets of an average age of seven years, recently established partnership with Togo-based ASKY airlines, to cover the West African hub and is significant for an historic intra-African cooperation in the airline business.
Stating that the airline has offered 55 years of dependable and reliable services in good and bad times to Nigeria, Woldemariam added that: “the airline is consistent with its good air services cooperation agreement with Nigeria remains the only foreign airline that operates into four destinations in the country.”
Leading trans-African airline in the 1960s, including the first East-West African connection Addis – Lagos, the airline has continued to connect Nigeria to the rest of the world, South America, Asia, Europe, North America and other parts of Africa with short connection time.
With 80 percent of Africa’s air traffic airlifted by non-African carriers Woldemariam said: “We are trying to establish hubs in Africa, with one to four hubs to interconnect Africa; the job, economy and money will sink on the soil and we will stop talking about capital flight, with 24 destinations already being serviced from our cargo operations with six dedicated freighters.”
He said the company aims to attain $10 billion by 2025; more than 100 international destinations; 140 aircraft as against the current 66 aircraft, it also projects an 18 million passenger increase for the period, up from six million currently, with 820,000 tonnes of cargo from the current 200,000 tonnes it carries.
“We want to be multi-hub in Africa with one brand multiple products, with current orders of 33 aircraft, our new cargo terminal when completed will be able to process 1.2 million tonnes capacity that is apart from establishing new hangar,” Woldermariam said.
On surviving the odds as a government owned enterprise, he said the airline goes over the years, with the epileptic operations of African airlines, has been successful due to diligence, good management, prudence and autonomy.
“We only present our score cards and performance to government, there is no interference; year to year, we operate and make profit, finance our operations from our revenue. We are not just an airline, we are into cargo, maintenance, repair and overhaul, ground services and aviation academy, in-flight catering services among others, we are a complete aviator,” he said.
He stressed that Nigerian staff hold top and significant positions in the company and have room to grow, adding that the airline’s doors were open for the training of personnel in the industry.
The managing director urged Nigerians to take the advantages which the airline has provided with its first class facilities to develop human capital requirement needed to develop aviation in Africa.
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