Ethiopian Airlines is seeking to establish regional hubs in Southern and central Africa according to Tewolde Gebremariam, 
Chief Executive of the airline.
The airline management is in the process of holding talks with the governments of Zambia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo to assess the possibilities of setting up regional hubs in these countries.
A delegation from Ethiopia traveled to Zambia last week to hold discussion with officials in Zambia on the possibility of establishing a hub in Lusaka. Ethiopia expects the Zambian capital to become its Southern hub particularly since that nation does not currently have a national flag carrier according to Tewolde.
Ethiopian Airlines is also in preliminary talks with Tanzanian officials as well as exploring the possibilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo he explained.The airline has been asked by the Ugandan government to lend assistance in re-launching the national airline which had been liquidated in 2001.
Regional hubs in Western, Southern and Central Africa play an important role in the Vision 2025 development strategy of the airline. It is to be remembered that Ethiopian Airlines currently partners withTogolese private airline ASKY, offering it a base in that part of the continent.
Source: The Reporter
