The Ethiopian Airlines said it was planning to increase its market share in Africa by ten folds in 2025 by raising the quality of its service and number of its aircraft.

Tewolde Gebre-Mariam, CEO of the airlines, said that Ethiopian would add 70 modern, fuel-saving aircraft to its fleet.

According to Tewolde, Ethiopian's annual income has now reached 1.6 billion dollars and the company was working to raise it to 10 billion dollars. The airline’s annual number of passengers is currently over three million, three times greater than the number of passengers over the last five years.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines said yesterday that it had signed Multi Crew Pilot Licence (MPL) training and consultative services agreement with the Canada-based FlightPath International.

According to the agreement 48 pilots will be trained for B737NGs and Bombardier Q-400 aircraft in the MPL programme. The first batch of trainees will start training at the Ethiopian Aviation Academy in October.

The MPL is a new pilot training and licensing system established in 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization to qualify first officers for airlines.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency