Best Practices

Ethiopian Airlines Pioneer of African Aviation Industry

It began with humble start but with striking growth. Now, more than 55 years on, the airline has spread its wings all over the globe. The airline provides passenger and cargo services to growing number of destinations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Many have wondered about the secret of its success as a pan African airline. It survived all sorts of competition while others crumbled in the face of pressures in the industry.

Ethiopian was established as Ethiopian Air Lines Inc. in June 1945 with the help of the US government, which arranged a meeting with the US Transworld airline /TWA/. The meeting laid down the basis for the establishenment of the new airline. The agreement includes the provision of spare parts, and ground equipment by TWA in return for fixed payment based on revenue. The agreement also included hiring of flight

and maintenance crews and other key personnel. Expatriates constituted half of Ethiopian airline employees.

Initially the airline bought five US Government surpluses Douglas C- 47

Skytrain transport planes , which were the military versions of the commercial DC-3, stationed in Cairo. The aircrafts arrived in Addis Ababa on February 1, 1946, loaded with spare parts, accompanied by a sixth plane, which transported the crew back to Cairo. A week later, the airline flew its first charter operation to Nairobi carrying East African currency, the Ethiopian State Bank needed to transport.

As the passenger demand grew, the airline bought four more Skytrains from the US government.  The first planes were not comfortable for long distances passenger traveling because all seats were on the side of the fuselage.  To increase passenger comfort the airline bought three more Skytrains in 1947. The aircraft had 21 converted forward facing seats, which were among the first to wear the colorful Ethiopian airlines lively, which remained in use unitil June 2003. 

In the late 1940s Ethiopian Airline extended its route network to Nairobi, Port Sudan, Bombay and chartered flights to Jeddah. Slowly, the web of domestic routes expanded as more airstrips came into being. 

In July 1953, the Ethiopian Government negotiated a new agreement with TWA to eventually change the personnel entirely to Ethiopians. Gradually the change began. In January 1957, Captain Alemayehu  Abebe was appointed as the first Ethiopian aircraft commander. This was one leap forward in the history of the airline.

Ethiopian Airline started long haul flights to Frankfurt in 1957. To support the long haul route of Addis Ababa-Cairo-Athens-Frankfurt three Dougals DC-6B cloud Masters, with capacity of 71 passengers, were delivered in 1958. Three years later, the route network continued to expand pioneering the first east -west flights across Africa to Monrovia with intermediate stops at Khartoum and Accra. The airline steadily expanded its services throughout the continent and established the largest network. 

The airline which was using Lideta airfield, built by Italians in 1936 began to use Bole International Airport since 1963.

Beginning from its inception the airline has gone through significant changes: the training school could be cited as a case in point.

The Airline commissioned a Pilot Training School (PTS) and an Aviation Maintenance Technician school (AMTS) in 1964 and in 1967 respectively. The training centers have pivotal role in the training of pilots and technicians not only for the Airline's own use but also for airlines from other Africa countries and the Middle East.

Its maintenance facility that is affirmed by periodic checks of international regulatory bodies, such as the U.S.  Federal Aviation Administration (ETIY 102F), International Civil Aviation Organization and Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, has gained a reputation for its high standard and excellent safety records.

The status of the airline was changed from a corporation to a share company and the title becomes Ethiopian Airlines 20 years after its foundation.

According to the Manager for Public Relations and Publications Kagnew Fissiha, the airline expanded its wings in 1990s more than ever before. At the time of Ethiopian's 50 ^th    anniversary in April 1996, the route network stretched from Europe (Athens, London, Frankfurt and Rome) to China (Beijing) and Thailand (Bangkok). The Middle East and Indian sub-continent were well represented, and the airline's African route reached Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire in the west, Cairo in the North, and Johannesburg and Durban in the south. Another giant leap was made in July 1998 when Ethiopian launched a twice-weekly service to Washington, its first destination to the America and flights to New York followed shortly after.

Today, Ethiopian Airlines has 44 International destinations across four continents and 22 domestic destination changing its motto to " Africa's link to the world" after accomplishing its dream of "bringing Africa together".

With the objective of making flying special, Ethiopian Airlines offers a new class of travel-cloud Nine where passengers are highly relaxed by the space and comfort of the previous first class but at a lower business class fare. Its esteemed customers are also privileged in the Frequent Flyer Program known as Shebamiles. The ever-increasing membership level shows the acceptance of the program by its frequent travelers.

Another remarkable development achieved in the course of time is  the use of information Technology (IT). Among other IT facilities, the on- line Internet) booking service has recently been made possible and passengers traveling from Addis Ababa, Rome, Washington, New York, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Nairobi and Tel Aviv have access to make their own booking over the Internet. This facility will be implemented at other cities as well in the near future. 

To support the route expansion and aggressive fleet enhancement program, the airline decided to buy 11 new  aircrafts in July 2002. The order included six B767-300 ERs and five B737-700, one B737-260PF Cargo.

Ethiopian Sky Cargo Fleet moves tons of cargo to different parts of the world with its freighters. In order to deliver a reliable service to its customers and increase its efficiency, Ethiopian started automated cargo booking system on April 1, 2005. The system enables customers (Shippers, consignees and  agents) to directly access information related to their consignment and track the shipment from origin to its final destination.

These developments coupled with the ultra modern terminal at Bole International Airport, which became operational on January 21,2003, are great achievements for Ethiopian Airlines and affirm its commitment in service excellence to its esteemed customers.

According to Fissiha it will continue to contribute its share towards the development of trade and tourism in Ethiopia and maintain its role as a major player in the development of Aviation in Africa.