Ethiopian to Link Chengdu with Africa January 05, 2017: Addis Ababa

Africa’s largest airline group, Ethiopian Airlines, is delighted to announce that it has concluded preparations to start new flight to Chengdu, China three times weekly as of June 3, 2017.

Chengdu is the capital of China’s Sichuan province and is the 7th-largest city in China. Chengdu is the country's western center of logistics, commerce, science and technology, as well as a hub of transportation, manufacturing and communication.   

Chengdu is also a major hub for Air China, Ethiopian Airlines’ Star Alliance partner.  With this new flight, passengers from Ethiopian vast and growing network in Africa will be able to quickly connect to dozens of cities in China partnership with Air China, including Shenzhen, Kunming, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Changsha, and Urumqi. 

Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “We are glad to launch services to Chengdu, our fifth gateway to The Republic of China. Since our first flight 43 years ago, China has been a key market and it is now the largest per country market in our system. Using the geocentric location advantage of our hub in Addis Ababa we are connecting China, the world's second largest economy and Africa’s biggest trade and investment partner, with 52 cities in the continent of Africa. With the addition of Chengdu, we shall offer the best and fastest connectivity options with a total of 34 weekly flights to China, operated with the latest and most comfortable B787 and B777 aircraft. Our Chinese customers will also enjoy seamless connection on Ethiopian vast intra African network and farther to São Paulo in Brazil.”

Ethiopian is investing to make Addis Ababa a Chinese friendly hub airport for the continent.  We now have Mandarin translators and signage available at the airport transit area and in the Cloud Nine Business Class Lounge.  Chinese New Year is also marked every year at Addis Abba Airport.

Ethiopian was the first African carrier and the fourth in the world to fly to China back in 1973. In addition to the three weekly flights to Chengdu to be launched in June, Ethiopian currently operates daily nonstop flights to Beijing, 10 weekly nonstop to Guangzhou, and 6 weekly nonstop to Hong Kong.

Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing airline in Africa. In its seven decades of operation, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.

Ethiopian commands the lion’s share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as Airbus A350, Boeing 787,

Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, and Bombardier Q-400 double cabin.   Ethiopian was the first airline in Africa to own and operate each of these aircraft.

Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centers:

Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average annual growth of 25% in the past seven years.

or more information about this press release, please contact:

Mrs. Hanna Atnafu

Manager Corporate Communications

Ethiopian Airlines

Tel: (251-1) 517-89-07/656/165/913/529