Ethiopian Airlines has finalized agreements with the Government of Chad for the launch of Chad national carrier.
Ethiopian has 49 percent stake in the joint venture while the Government of Chad retains 51 percent, Ethiopian Airlines disclosed in a statement on Saturday.
The new Chad national carrier is planned to go into operation with effect from October 1.
Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam in the statement noted that the Chad national Airline would serve as a hub in Central Africa.
Ethiopian has in recent times been acquiring stakes in national airlines.
Through its multiple hubs strategy in Africa, Ethiopian currently operates hubs in Lomé (Togo) with ASKY Airlines and Malawian in Lilongwe (Malawi), while having the already acquired stakes in Zambia’s and Guinea’s national carriers and making preparations to launch Ethiopian Mozambique Airlines.
As Nigeria plans to float its national carrier, Nigeria Air, Ethiopian Airline has been widely mentioned as one of the airlines bidding to acquire stakes in the new carrier. Its CEO was quoted as saying the Airline was the frontrunner in the bidding process to manage Nigeria Air but the statement was swiftly denied after a backlash from Nigerian government.
