Ethiopian Airlines, has collected a 25.1 billion birr profit in its eight months of operation, Diriba Kuma, the Transport Minister told parliament last Tuesday presenting his office’s eight-month performance report.

According to the minister, the airline’s projection for the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year is to increase its total revenue to 30.1 billion birr, and so far it has achieved 82 percent of it its earning target.

Recently Ethiopian Airlines has completed the  construction of a  perishable goods storage warehouse. The minister reported that among other operations that were scheduled to be executed by the airline, the installation of simulators for B787 and Q400 and the construction and delivery of students’ classrooms for its aviation academy are underway.

Diriba has also presented reports on the performance of the maritime and shipping sectors. According to Diriba, during the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year, using its own ships and leased ships, the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Enterprise (ESLE) has transported 80,231 containers, amounting to 1,379,301 tons of goods.

Similarly, the Enterprise has transported 1,109,048 tons of imported goods from Djibouti Port. Meanwhile, export goods that amounts to 132,835 tons had been transported to the Djibouti Port in the past eight months.

Diriba said that activities had also been undertaken to replace the enterprises old ship fleet with new ones in a step to insure efficient maritime transport. He indicated that at the beginning of the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year, more than USD 295.5 million has been allocated to buy seven dry freight ships and two oil tanker ships.

Source: The Reporter