Ethiopian Unveils Inaugurated New Business Class Lounge in its Addis Ababa Hub Airport - 17 November, 2012

Ethiopian Airlines opens the first phase of its new business class (Cloud Nine) lounge at its main hub, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, with modern facilities and amenities comfortable for premium travelers. Inline with its vision 2025 fast growth plan and with the exponential growth in passenger numbers, it has become necessary to build a brand new lounge that gives premium travelers the best possible on-ground experience while waiting for their flights. When fully completed, the new Cloud Nine lounge will be three times bigger than the existing one. It has a quiet corner with sleeping cots and individual reading lamps; massage chairs, where passengers can relax and rest; an internet corner with fixed stations as well as free and fast Wi-Fi connection. On the occasion of the unveiling of the new Cloud Nine Lounge, CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said, "Our new Cloud Nine Lounge will enable us to greatly enhance our premium passengers’ on-ground experience with facilities and amenities that will make their airport departure and transit time as enjoyable as possible. As a customer focused airline, we will continue to invest towards customer service excellence." The unveiling of the new Cloud Nine Lounge is the first of a three phase expansion plan. In the next phase, the lounge will have a full-fledged spa, private digital lockers for passengers to stow away their bags, while they move around the airport; and a traditional Ethiopian coffee corner, which will run continuously so as to give passengers a taste of the exceptional Ethiopian brew. About Ethiopian Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing airline in Africa, made its maiden international flight to Cairo in 1946 and now the Airline provides dependable services to 70 international destinations spanning four continents. Ethiopian is proud to be a Star Alliance Member. The Star Alliance network is the leading global airline network offering customers convenient worldwide reach and a smoother travel experience. The Star Alliance network offers more than 21,555 daily flights to 1,356 airports in 193 countries. Ethiopian is a multi-award winner for its commitment and contributions towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry and in recognition of its distinguished long-haul operations enhanced by the introduction of new routes and products. Recently, Ethiopian won gold in the African Airline of the Year 2011/2012 Awards organized by the African Aviation News Portal. Ethiopian also received the 2011 AFRAA award for being consistently profitable over the years and has won the "AFRICAN CARGO AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2011 Award" for its excellence in air cargo. Ethiopian also won the 2012 "African Airline of the Year Award" from Air Transport Quarterly Magazine. With its acquisition of and firm orders for several new modern fleet, the airline is well positioned to pursue aggressively the implementation of its Vision 2025 strategic plan to become the leading aviation group in Africa.