Ethiopian Wins Airline of the Year Award in China - 07 April, 2015

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline in Africa, is pleased to announce that it has won the Airline of the Year Award for the second time in a row at MICE Magazine’s 8th Annual Industry Golden Chair Awards held in Beijing, China on April 1, 2015. The annual Golden Chair Award is one of the most influential awards in China and ranks airlines, hotels, travel agencies and tourism destinations with the best performance.

Ethiopian Group CEO, Tewolde GebreMariam, said, "We are honored to receive this award for the second year in a row. I wish to thank MICE Magazine and, above all, our esteemed customers from China for their vote of confidence. Ethiopian has become the airline of choice for Chinese travelers between China, Africa and Brazil. We offer the best and fastest connectivity options with a total of 28 weekly flights to 4 gateways in China that are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, and with immediate connection to 49 destinations in Africa and Sao Paulo in Brazil. All the flights are operated with the latest and most comfortable aircraft, the 787 and 777.

Thanks to our codeshare agreement with our fellow Star Alliance partner, Air China, we avail seamless and convenient connections with one ticket and the ability to accrue and re-deem frequent flyer miles on the two airlines. Going forward, given the growing economic and people-to-people ties between Africa and China, we will expand our reach in China, Africa and Brazil with new destinations and more frequencies with a view to enhance our service to our customers from China". In 2014, Ethiopian received Best Airline to Africa award by Premier Traveler, one of the most prominent travel magazines in the United States.

Ethiopian has also been awarded Best Airline in Africa and African Airline of the Year awards by Passenger Choice and The African Airlines Association (AFRAA). In 2015, Ethiopian was recognized as the Best Regional Airline by Air Transport World, the global leading aviation publication. Ethiopian is a Pan-African global carrier, member of Star Alliance, operating the youngest fleet in the continent with an average of less than 7 years and currently serving 85 international destinations across 5 continents with over 200 daily departures. 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.