Ethiopian Airlines named best international airline in Nigeria

Africa’s biggest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, has been pronounced the best international airline in Nigeria, even as the leading aviation company is celebrating its one year of what it called “preighter services.”

The pronouncement for the award was made at the just concluded Abuja Jabamah “Wonders of Nigeria Expo.” Receiving the award from the ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago, Wendell Lago, and the ambassador of Jamaica, Esmond Reid, Mrs. Senait Ataklet, the airline’s traffic and sales manager in Nigeria, expressed happiness and also thanked the organisers of the expo.

She said that last year was a difficult year for everyone but Ethiopian Airlines leveraged cargo services to shore up its business fortunes.

According to the organisers, Ethiopian Airlines was the best performer in Nigeria in 2020 and clearly stood out among the non-Nigerian airlines, as it handled more than 50% of evacuation flights in and out of Nigeria during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Other winners at the event, which is held yearly, included Arik Airlines, which was chosen as the Airline of the Decade in Nigeria from the Year 2010 to the 2020.

Another domestic airline, Ibom Air, won the award for the Best Airline in Nigeria.

The high profile Abuja culture and tourism expo was a two-day event with multiple value-adding activities, including training sessions for Nigerian Tourism Professionals.

It was the first physical meeting for Tourism Professionals in 2021 held in Nigeria.

Abuja Jabamah is an annual tourism event in Nigeria, with specific focus on domestic tourism development.

According to Senait Ataklet, “the pivot to cargo by Ethiopian Airlines saw the airline converting some passenger airplanes into freighters.”

Ataklet used the occasion to invite tour operators to include a stopover at Addis Ababa for all their tours of Africa.

This award comes as Ethiopian celebrates one year anniversary of the converting one of its B737 into a freighter, thereby creating a “preighter”.

Ethiopian Airlines operated its first cargo only service on a passenger aircraft with its Boeing B787-900. The flight departed on March 25, 2020 from Addis Ababa during the Coronavirus lockdown to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, carrying more than 16 tons of much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) and other shipments inside the cabin and the belly of the aircraft.

Following the sharp decline in passenger numbers due to the pandemic, Ethiopian swiftly shifted focus to cargo operations and became among the very few pioneers to load cargo in passenger aircraft cabins.

Immediately afterwards, the African aviation giant demonstrated remarkable agility in its response to the increased cargo demand in the wake of the pandemic by reconfiguring 25 passenger aircraft into freighters, using its own internal MRO capabilities and distributed the much-needed PPE and medical supplies across the globe.

After one year since its first preighter operation, Ethiopian has operated 5,645 cargo flights in the cabins of passenger aircraft and transported more than 121,750 tons of cargo across its vast global network.

The flights added immense value to the total of 33,182 flights and 735,869 tons of cargo transported by airlines during the period from March 25, 2020 to March 25, 2021.

Commenting on the milestone, Ethiopian Group CEO, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, said that “today marks one year since the beginning of our first preighter flight service as a way to manage the unprecedented global crisis. The single preighter flight that started on this day last year has helped our airline navigate the storm so far. We are extremely honored to have served our customers during the most difficult times.”

He further added that “Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services has been a critical player in the global fight against the pandemic by distributing medical supplies and PPE to places with limited access to transportation.“

Since the start of its first cargo flight on passenger seats last year, Ethiopian has been increasing its capacity to become an ideal shipment partner of many humanitarian organizations, including the World Food Programme (WFP).

In addition, Ethiopian has been hailed for its efficient delivery of essential medical supplies donated by Alibaba Foundation, WHO and donor governments to all African countries.

The airline is currently working in collaboration with UNICEF and Cainiao for the global vaccine distribution efforts.

Ethiopian is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its more than 70 years of operation, it has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.

It commands the lion’s share of the Pan-African passenger and cargo network, operating the youngest and most modern fleet to 127 international passenger and cargo destinations across five continents.

Its fleet includes ultra-modern and environment friendly aircraft, such as Airbus A350, Boeing 787-8, Boeing 787-9, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, and Bombardier Q-400 double cabin, with an average fleet age of five years.

The company was 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 aviation group in Africa, with Seven business units, namely Ethiopian International Services, Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services, Ethiopian MRO Services, Ethiopian Aviation Academy, Ethiopian ADD Hub Ground Services, Ethiopian Airports Services, and Ethiopian Express Services (Domestic).

The African aviation industry giant is a multi award-winning airline, which has been registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.