Ethiopia Airlines’ cargo hub, which is situated at Addis Ababa, is now eligible for the ACC3, a new European Union (EU) cargo security regulation.

EU introduces a new cargo transport security regulation following the interception of explosives on board in 2010. The new regulation requires carriers that operate cargo flights to the EU to get inspection and validation from independent security inspectors.

The deadline for African carriers that operate a direct flight to the EU was primarily July 2014. However, following request from airlines that has direct flights to the EU, the deadline has been pushed to January 2015.

Ethiopian’s cargo hub was inspected by an independent validator and secured EU’s approval in March. The validation certificate it it acquired is valid for five years, until 2019.

EU has not yet enforced the regulation. “There are a number of African airlines that have a direct flights to the EU. That means each of the stations need to be independently validated by EU endorsed validators to make sure that the security program is in place.” IATA’s responsibility is to raise awareness among all IATA members and to provide assistance and guidance. “But we can't force them. Meeting the deadline is incredibly important. The EU could ban them and that is not good for Africa's economy,” Hughes added.

Ethiopian currently operates nine freighter aircraft with a fleet composition of four B777, two MD-11F, two B757 and one B737-400. On the other hand its annual up lift has reached over 200,000 Tons by full freighter and belly hold.

In addition to these fleets, by the end of 2015 Ethiopian will receive two B777F aircraft with uplift capacity of 105 Tons. Its cargo terminal has a capacity of over 300,000 Tons per year. There is also an ongoing construction of state-of-the-art new cargo terminal with a storage capacity of 1.2 million tons of cargo.

Source: The Reporter