Ethiopian Cargo proudly announces that it has won "THE AFRICAN CARGO AIRLINE OF THE YEAR" award at the Air Cargo Africa 2011 Conference held in Nairobi Kenya on 24 February 2011. The award was organized by STAT TIMES International for excellence in Air Cargo in Africa. According to the STAT TIMES, Ethiopian Airlines Cargo has won the nominations of its readers worldwide for the "STAT TIMES International Award for Excellence in Air Cargo" in the category of AFRICAN CARGO AIRLINE OF THE YEAR.
At the Gala Award Night held at the Crowne Plaza in Nairobi on 24 February 2011, Mr. Esayas Woldemariam Vice President Ethiopian Cargo received the award. The event was graced with the presence of Hon. Amos Kimunya, Transport Minister of the Republic of Kenya.
Ethiopian Airlines cargo is the second largest revenue source (next to passenger) which is 15% of the total revenue of the airlines. Ethiopian launched its first cargo charter operations to Nairobi in 1946. Since then the airline has been transporting goods ranging from industrial products to perishables.
Recognizing cargo as part of its core business, Ethiopian has established a new a state-of-the-art cargo terminal with the capacity to hold 350,000 tons of cargo per annum that positioned Addis Ababa as a regional cargo hub.
Ethiopian Cargo has made its main hub in Addis Ababa, its Europe hub in Liege, its Middle East hub in Dubai and its Asia hub in Hong Kong. Madras and Mumbai are also major cargo originating points. This is a pioneering endeavor by the airline to primarily encourage and promote Africa’s export business to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Currently, Ethiopian has six dedicated cargo fleet which include; two 747-200Fs, two 757Fs and two MD-11s, operating the largest cargo fleet in Africa. In addition, the airline provides cargo services in the belly space of passenger fleet of B767-300, B757-200, B777-200 LR, B737-700 and B737-800 on a charter and scheduled basis. Ethiopian operates over 40 cargo destinations spread across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East via its major hub in Addis Ababa. No other airline in Africa avails cargo services of such dimension and magnitude.
STAT TIMES, the international multimodal transport media has been encouraging excellence in various categories of Air Cargo industry since 2006.
About Ethiopian
Ethiopian Airlines, one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, made its maiden flight to Cairo in 1946. With the addition of flight services to Maputo and Bangui, Ethiopian provides dependable services to 39 cities in Africa and a total of 60 international destinations spanning four continents.
Ethiopian won the NEPAD Transport Infrastructure Excellence Awards 2009 and the 2009 "Airline of the Year" award from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA). In August, 2008, Ethiopian won "the 2008 Corporate Achievement Award" of Aviation & Allied Business for setting the pace towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry. Ethiopian is also the first African carrier to win the 2008 Brussels Airport Company Award in recognition of its distinguished long haul operations witnessed through the introduction of new routes, new products, and close cooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities.