In a strategic move to serve Nigeria with enhanced cargo handling capacity, Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest aviation company, has appointed Mr. Solomon Mekonnen as its new cargo manager in Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy.
Shimeles Arage, who is the airline’s general manager (GM) for Nigeria, announced the appointment on Sunday, January 24 in a document sent to The Africanscholar.
The leading aviation service provider in Africa is responding to a year of coronavirus pandemic and restricted passenger travels, but with rather increased cargo delivery within the same period.
The total cargo transported by the airline across its network in 2020 was 644,000 tonnes. Out of this figure, the total tonnage brought in and out of Nigeria stood at 49,000 tonnes, representing 7.60 percent of the global total.
As the novel coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, ravaged the world, killing hundreds of thousands of people, mandating lockdowns to curb spread, and bringing the world economy to its knees, Ethiopian (ET) became the bridge between the nations of Africa and the rest of the world, delivering tonnes of life-saving medical supplies and products.
The African aviation giant has daily freight services to Nigeria, in addition to the passenger services for which it is well regarded in the West African nation, which is also the most populous in the whole of Africa.
The airline’s new cargo manager in Nigeria will be based in Lagos and is mandated to supervise cargo operations throughout the country.
Mr. Mekonnen has worked in various capacities since joining ET in 2006. He had worked as cargo supervisor and cargo sales manager in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as well as traffic and sales manager in Enugu, Nigeria.
Ethiopian Airlines has an immense capacity for cargo and has been winning most of the available industry awards in this category in 2020.
The company adapted some of its planes to do cargo, with 576, 800Kg belly hold capacity from 83 passenger aircraft and a dedicated freight fleet of 10 B777 and 2 B737 aircraft.
Having the largest cargo terminal in Africa at Addis Ababa Airport with all cargo capability, ET has been identified as the first choice for vaccine distribution by most countries.
Ethiopian Airlines has been flying to Nigeria since 1960 and has become one of the most reliable airlines for Nigerian passengers.
It uses the most advanced and brand-new aircraft for its flights to Lagos and Abuja and was the first airline to introduce B787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 to Nigeria.
Ethiopian was also the only international airline to fly to Kaduna when the Abuja airport was closed years back for maintenance purposes and was the only international airline to serve Enugu Airport until it was also closed for runway repairs.
