Ethiopian Airlines announced that it is planning to add three more Chinese flight destinations. Tewolde Gebremariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, said Ethiopian Airlines is waiting flight permits from Chinese authorities to fly to the Chinese destinations of Chongqing, Shenzhen and Zhengzhou.

"In addition to planning three new Chinese destinations, ET is also planning to increase its flight frequencies to the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Shanghai," Mr. Tewolde told the Chinese news agency Xinhua..

"Ethiopia's cargo and passenger flight frequencies and destinations need to increase to keep up with the fast rising ties between African countries and China," he added.

Currently, Ethiopian flies daily from Addis Ababa to Guangzhou and Beijing, three-times-a-week to Chengdu. It also flies daily, both passenger and cargo, to Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Mr. Tewolde also pointed out that Ethiopian has started facilitating visa hub service for Chinese citizens travelling to 35 African countries.

"Most African countries' embassies are located in Beijing, but China is a big country and some Chinese may not be able to come to Beijing to apply for visas in countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia or Nigeria," Mr. Tewolde explained.

"The visa scheme will facilitate easier air travel for Chinese experts and business people and reduces their financial cost. We believe the visa scheme will significantly boost China-Africa trade ties and we are very excited about it," he further said.

Ethiopian has the largest air network for an African airlines in China, currently travelling to five Chinese destinations, helping Chinese and foreign nationals living in various corners of China to directly travel to Ethiopia and beyond without the need to transit through the Chinese capital city Beijing.

Ethiopian Airlines was the first African airline to start flight services to China, back in 1973.

Source: Xinhua