Ethiopian Airlines
IATA ET	ICAO ETH	Callsign ETHIOPIAN
Founded		1945
Hubs		Addis Ababa Bole International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Sheba Miles
Fleet size		34 (+11 orders) incl. cargo
Destinations		80 (2008)
Company slogan		Africa's World Class Airline
Headquarters		Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Key people		Seyoum Mesfin (Chairman), Girma Wake (CEO)
Website: http://www.ethiopianairlines.com

Ethiopian Airlines (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ, የኢትዮጵያ^? in short) is an airline based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the national airline of Ethiopia, operating scheduled international passenger and freight services to 80 destinations world-wide, as well as domestic services to 32 destinations and passenger and cargo charter flights. Its main hub is Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport.^[1]

Ethiopian Airlines is the biggest and busiest airline in Africa with 80 destinations world-wide. The Ethiopian Airlines have over 30 destinations in Ethiopia (2008).

[edit] History

Ethiopian Airlines was founded on December 30, 1945, by Emperor Haile Selassie with assistance from TWA. It commenced operations on April 8, 1946, with a weekly service between Addis Ababa and Cairo with 5 Douglas DC-3 propeller-driven aircraft.^[2]

It started long-haul services to Frankfurt in 1958 and inaugurated its first jet service in January 1963 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. In 1965, it changed from being a corporation to a share company and changed its name from Ethiopian Air Lines to Ethiopian Airlines. It is wholly owned by the government of Ethiopia and has 4,700 employees (at March 2007)^[1].

Boeing 767-300ER

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. In 1998, it started transatlantic services. It is one of the few profitable African airlines. The airline was featured by The Economist as an example of excellence in late 1987, ^[3] and Ethiopianist Paul B. Henze recognized it in 2000 as being "one of the most reliable and profitable airlines in the Third World",^[4]

The airline provided service to the Eritrean capital of Asmara until a war erupted between the two countries in 1998. In 2002, the airline carried 1,054,687 passengers. It employed 4,539 staff in January 2005.^{[citation needed]} Ethiopian Airlines commenced "Vision 2010" a few years ago which aims to increase the net profit of the airline to 1 billion US Dollars and the staff to 6,000. The airline calls its frequent flyer program "Sheba Miles" in reference to the legendary Queen of Sheba.

Prior to his 1996 death on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961^[5], Mohamed Amin published issues of Selamta, the Ethiopian Airlines in-flight magazine.^[6]

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Ethiopian Airlines destinations

[edit] Cargo

Fokker 50 at Lalibela airport

Fokker 50

Ethiopian Airlines Cargo operates two Boeing 757-200PF freighter aircraft^[7] to points in Africa, Middle East, India and Europe. ^[8].

During the first five months of 2007, the cargo division of Ethiopian Airlines leased two DC-10-30F from World Airways^[9] to add capacity on its network.

In July 2007, Ethiopian Airlines announced they would purchase an MD-11F to be delivered in January 2009, and also an intention to lease a second MD-11F later that same year.^[10]

In November 2007, Ethiopian leased two Boeing 747-200 cargo aircraft powered by GE Engines.

In June 2008 they will move operations from Brussels to Liège Airport (up to 12 flights a week using their 747).

[edit] Incidents and accidents

Since 1970, there have been two fatal events involving Ethiopian Airlines aircraft [1].

On 15 September 1988 a Boeing 737 on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 604 taking off from Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, ingested pigeons into both engines. One engine lost thrust almost immediately and the second lost thrust during the emergency return to the airport. During the crash landing, 31 of the 105 passengers were killed [2] [3].

On 23 November 1996, three hijackers commandeered a Boeing 767 on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961. The flight was on its first leg of an Addis Ababa-Nairobi-Brazzaville-Lagos-Abidjan route. The hijackers instructed the pilot to fly to Australia. Flying south along the African coast, the controller of Nairobi advised them to land at Mombasa. The fuel ran out and one of the plane's engines stopped. While attempting a landing into shallow waters 500 meters from shore near Le Galawa Beach (Comoros Islands near Moroni in the Comoros Islands), the aircraft ran completely out of fuel and ditched. 123 of the 175 passengers and crew died. All of the hijackers are presumed dead. The aircraft was completely destroyed.[4]

The entire crash landing was captured on film by an unsuspecting woman on the beach.

[edit] Fleet

The Ethiopian Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (at September 2008)^[7]

Not counting the De Havilland planes, the fleet average age is 9.7 years at January 2008^[11].

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. Expected delivery of the new planes is between 2008 and 2011. Ethiopian Cargo operates two Lockheed L-100 freighters. ET Cargo also leases additional aircraft based on traffic requirements. Three of the existing four passenger 757-200s are expected to be converted to freighter configuration.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Accreditation

The United States Federal Aviation Administration accredited the maintenance devision with license No. ETIY 102F. ^[12][13]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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Ethiopian Airlines

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