is the national
Airline of
Ethiopia . The airline is based out of
Bole International Airport in
Addis Ababa . It operates scheduled international services to 45 destinations world-wide and has an extensive domestic network. It also undertakes passenger and cargo charter flights.
Ethiopian Airlines was founded on
December 30 ,
1945 with assistance from
TWA . It commenced operations on
April 8 ,
1946 with a weekly service between Addis Ababa and
Cairo , the initial fleet consisted of five
Douglas DC-3 propeller-driven aircraft in which passengers sat in the folding canvas seats along the sides of the fuselage.
Although it relied on American pilots and technicians at the beginning, by its 25th anniversary in
1971 , Ethiopian Airlines was managed and fully staffed by Ethiopian personnel. It has been described by Paul B. Henze as "one of the most reliable and profitable airlines in the Third World",
1 noting that the airline was featured by ''
The Economist '' as an example of excellence.
2 In
1998 it started transatlantic services.
In
2002 , the airline carried 1,054,687 passengers. It employed 4,539 staff in January 2005.
Ethiopian Airlines operates the following services (at January
2005 ):
- Domestic scheduled destinations (destinations with paved runways in ): ''' Addis Ababa ''', ''' Arba Minch ''', Asosa , ''' Axum ''', ''' Bahir Dar ''', Beica , Dembidolo , Dessie , ''' Dire Dawa ''', ''' Gambela ''', Gode , ''' Gondar ''', Gore , Inda Selassie , Jijiga , ''' Jimma ''', Jinka , Kabri Dar , ''' Lalibela ''', Mekane Selam , ''' Mek'ele ''', Mizan Teferi , Shilavo and Tippi .
- International scheduled destinations: Abidjan , Accra , Amsterdam , Bamako , Bangkok , Beijing , Beirut , Brazzaville , Brussels (effective summer 2006), Bujumbura , Cairo , Dakar , Dar Es Salaam , Delhi , Djibouti , Douala , Dubai , Entebbe / Kampala , Frankfurt , Guangzhou , Harare , Hargeisa , Hong Kong , Jeddah , Johannesburg , Juba , Khartoum , Kigali , Kilimanjaro , Kinshasa , Lagos , Libreville , Lilongwe , Lome , London (Gatwick & Heathrow), Luanda , Lusaka , Mumbai , Nairobi , Ndjamena , Paris , Rome (Fiumicino), Stockholm , Tel Aviv and Washington, D.C. (Dulles)
Since
1970 , there have been two fatal events involving Ethiopian Airlines aircraft.
On
15 September ,
1988 an Ethiopian Airlines
Boeing 737 taking off from Bahir Dar, Ethiopia ingested numerous pigeons into both engines. One engine lost thrust almost immediately and the second lost thrust during the emergency return to the airport. As a result of the crash landing, 31 of the 105 passengers were killed.
On
23 November ,
1996 , three hijackers commandeered a
Boeing 767 on
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 . The flight was on its first leg, on an
Addis Ababa ,
Ethiopia -
Nairobi ,
Kenya -
Brazzaville ,
Republic Of The Congo -
Lagos ,
Nigeria -
Abidjan ,
Côte D'Ivoire route. The hijackers were instructing the pilot to fly to
Australia . Flying south along the African coast, fuel reserves ran out and one of the plane's engines stopped. While attempting a landing near
Moroni in the
Comoros Islands the aircraft ran completely out of fuel and ditched into waters 500m from shore. 123 of the 175 passengers and crew aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 died. All of the hijackers are presumed dead.
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In February 2005 Ethiopian Airlines signed a preliminary agreement to buy up to 10
Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft (5 firm orders and 5 options). On
31 May 2005 Boeing announced that Ethiopian had exercised its purchase rights and confirmed a firm order for 10 aircraft.
Ethiopian Cargo, also operates two
Lockheed L-100 Freighters . ET Cargo also leases additional aircraft based on traffic requirements. Three of the current four passenger 757-200s are expected to be converted to freighter configuration over the coming years, with the first one being pulled out of passenger service in early May 2006.
# Paul B. Henze, ''Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia'', (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 246.
# "In Search of Excellence, the Hard Way", ''The Economist'',
31 December 1987 .
