ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Eyes New York For Mid 2016 Launch

The doubling of the long haul fleet by Ethiopian Airlines in the space of just five years has laid the foundation for a global expansion in destinations in Asia, Europe and North America. With the upcoming delivery of 14 Airbus A350’s to Ethiopian Airlines starting next year, and an almost imminent decision to add as many as 20 more wide body aircraft to their order list will the number of wide body aircraft, when delivered, boost the airline’s capacity for long haul flights yet further, putting an even greater distance between them and Africa’s other leading airlines.

The decision about the aircraft type seems limited to either more Airbus A350-1000 variants or else Boeing’s B777X and is expected before the end of the year.

The fleet overhaul is of some importance as the aged Boeing B767 fleet needs urgent phasing out while the rest of the existing wide bodies, apart from the B787’s, require to a large part retrofitting to install flatbed business class seats, to be able to compete on the cabin product, important for both premium passengers and code share partners alike.

New routes already announced, like New York in June 2016, ET’s third US destination after Washington and the more recently launched service to Los Angeles, via Dublin, and projected flights next year to Vietnam – rival Kenya Airways is currently the only African airline offering flights to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) plus yet more destinations in China and South Asia will further cement the airline’s position as Africa’s leading airline.

Already is there speculation of more US destinations like Chicago and Houston though it is not known if the additional services will, like LA, also operate via Dublin from where Ethiopian enjoys fifth freedom rights into the United States. Nonstop flights to the US, out of Addis Ababa, are an eternal challenge due to the elevation of the airport which curtails payloads and makes a stop enroute almost mandatory.

On the continent of Africa is Ethiopian also not letting up and a new service to Yaounde is once more pitting ET against perennial rival Kenya Airways which has been serving the Cameroonian capital for some time. Other major African airlines, like South African and Egypt Air, both also harbouring thoughts for continental supremacy, are like KQ struggling with a string of poor financial results which has restricted their ability to match if not outpace Ethiopian for new destinations and fleet expansion.

The predictable outcome of that scenario is all playing into the hands of Ethiopian, which is literally free of union troubles – a major bane especially for Kenya Airways – and enjoys the full backing of the Ethiopian government inspite of the country’s recent cash crunch.

These factors, apart from competitive pricing for travelers ready to fly via Addis Ababa, are seen as key elements to the success of Ethiopian to become Africa’s first global carrier, able to hold its own against both the legacy airlines in Europe and America but more important, the Gulf giants which have otherwise taken the African aviation market by storm.