Tewolde GebreMariam
Africa’s
largest airline group, Ethiopian Airlines, has concluded plans to
connect Chengdu, China, with three times weekly flights.
Chengdu is the capital of China’s Sichuan Province and is the
seventh-largest city in China. Chengdu is the country’s western centre
of logistics, commerce, science and technology, as well as a hub of
transportation, manufacturing and communication. Chengdu is also a major
hub for Air China, Ethiopian Airlines’ Star Alliance partner.
With the new flight, beginning from June 3, 2017 and partnership with
Air China, passengers from Ethiopian network in Africa will be able to
quickly connect to dozens of cities in China.
Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam, said the new route is their fifth gateway to The Republic of China.
GebreMariam said: “Since our first flight 43 years ago, China has
been a key market and it is now the largest per country market in our
system. Using the geocentric location advantage of our hub in Addis
Ababa we are connecting China, the world’s second largest economy and
Africa’s biggest trade and investment partner, with 52 cities in the
continent of Africa.
“With the addition of Chengdu, we shall offer the best and fastest
connectivity options with a total of 34 weekly flights to China,
operated with the latest and most comfortable B787 and B777 aircraft.
Our Chinese customers will also enjoy seamless connection on Ethiopian
vast intra African network and farther to São Paulo in Brazil,” he said.
