Governments of Ethiopia and Japan signed a revised bilateral air service agreement BASA during the Japanese high-level delegation visit to Addis Ababa the past week, according to The Reporter.

Wossenyeleh Hunegnaw (Col.), director general of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, told The Reporter that the revised agreement will enable Ethiopian Airlines to operate seven weekly flights between Addis Ababa Bole International and Narita International Airport.

CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, told The Reporter that his management plans to start three weekly flights to Tokyo in July 2014.

“It is a challenging route and we are very careful in the studying, preparations and planning stages. The cost of operation is very high (among the highest in the world),” Tewolde said.

Ethiopia and Japan have a bilateral air service agreement since 1996.

Source: The Reporter