Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it has ended yet another year of fast and profitable growth in 2016, highlighted by fleet and network expansion as well as significant investment in customer services in the air and on the ground.
Recapping the airline’s performance in 2016, Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “2016 has been an exceptionally challenging year for the African Aviation industry. Commodity exporting countries in general and oil exporting African countries in particular have been hit hard by the global decline of commodity prices. As a result, demand for air travel has been suppressed and the shortage of foreign exchange has severely affected the financial performance of airlines in the continent. Yet, at Ethiopian, we are very proud of the new heights Ethiopian has flown in the year: we celebrated our 70th anniversary, inaugurated the largest and the finest Aviation Academy in Africa and a state-of-the-art In-flight Catering facility which is the largest in the continent of Africa, introduced Africa’s first Ethiopian Airbus A350, and spread our wings to more countries on 5 continents.
“Despite the sluggish growth in the world’s matured market, all of our 12,000 colleagues remained focused on the robust execution of our vision 2025, which has proved to be a winning strategy in today’s hyper-competitive and complex airline business. We wish to thank our valued customers for their continued vote of confidence on our services and for making Ethiopian as their airline of choice.”
Ethiopian has increased its fleet by 8 aircraft in 2016 and has closed the year with 82 airplanes in service. For the first time in its history, Ethiopian has diversified to include Airbus aircraft, with Africa’s first A350. With an average fleet age of just five years, Ethiopian has one of the youngest and most modern fleet in the world. Ethiopian has heavily invested in the two most technologically advanced fleet of our time; the B787 Dream Liner and the A350. With high performance, less carbon emission, advanced cabin features, and superior customer comfort, these airplanes are game changers in today’s civil aviation industry.
