Ethiopian Airlines, the largest cargo operator in Africa, is pleased to announce that it has won the Air Cargo Brand of the Decade for Africa Award from Shipping, Transport, Aviation and Tourism (STAT) at a ceremony held in Rivonia, South Africa on 26 February2015. Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, said: "We are very proud to receive this prestigious recognition.
Ethiopian Cargo Services is the second largest Strategic Business unit in our Group and in line with our Vision 2025 strategic road map, we have been investing in all the four pillars of our vision:- we have acquired the best freighter aircraft in the world, the B777-200 LR freighters; expanding our cargo destinations across the globe; building one of the largest cargo terminals in the world with 1.2 million annual capacity; and automating our entire cargo business process with one of the best Cargo IT systems (SITA Champ Cargo Spot) with the aim of providing one of the most efficient air cargo services within, to and from Africa. I take this opportunity to thank our Cargo team for their hard work and our Global Cargo Customers for their support" Ethiopian Cargo, the largest cargo operator in Africa, currently uplifts 200,000 tons of cargo annually and flies to 24 freighter destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe using 8 dedicated freighters, including B777-200 LRF, the MD-11F aircraft and B757F. By 2025, Ethiopian Cargo plans to uplift over 800,000 tons per year by operating to 37 freighter destinations across 5 continents using 20 dedicated cargo aircraft. About Ethiopian Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing and most profitable airline in Africa.
In 2014, IATA ranked Ethiopian as the largest airline in Africa in revenue and profit. In its operations in the past close to seven decades, Ethiopian has been a pioneer of African aviation as an aircraft technology leader providing the first jet service in the continent in 1962, and availing the first African B767 in 1984, the first African B777-200LR in 2010 and the first African and second only to Japan B787 Dreamliner in 2012. Ethiopian commands the lion share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 83 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200LR Freighter and Bombardier Q-400 with double cabin. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft. Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading airline group in Africa with seven strategic business units: Ethiopian International Passenger Service; Ethiopian Regional Service; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Service and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning, including SKYTRAX and Passenger Choice Awards in 2013 and has been registering an average growth of 25% per annum in the past seven years.