Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Ethiopian Airlines said last week that Lome-based ASKY Airlines, in which it now holds a 40 percent stake, is planning to launch long range flight sercvices,
Tewolde Gebremariam, Ethiopian CEO, said. "Maybe [ASKY] will get a 767 for these new services "We are very close to" formally announcing the start of long-range ASKY operations. ASKY operates three 737-700s and one Bombardier Q400.
ASKY is planning to expand its routes at a time when it is facing stiff competition on routes between Africa and other world regions and foreign airlines such as SkyTeam and Emirates have overcrowded international routes to and from Africa. "Inner-African routes are still better business," Tewolde said.
Ethiopian and future Star Alliance partners Egyptair and South African Airways are considering establishing a carrier in Central Africa, Tewolde said. The carrier can potentially be based in six countries, he said. He said that with its membership in Star, the alliance would become the dominant player in Africa before SkyTeam and Emirates.
Ethiopian is also poised to expand its network by launching another destination in North America when it launches the Addis Ababa-Toronto Pearson flights in December.
At present, it serves Washington Dulles daily from Addis Ababa using a Boeing 777-200LR. Ethiopian Airlines has postponed the launch of Addis Ababa-Damascus service until further notice because of the unrest in Syria.
Ethiopian is expecting the delivery of two new 777 freighters on lease from GECAS by the end of next year. Tewolde noted that 15 percent of Ethiopian's business comes from cargo. He said that modernization of the airline's passenger fleet was proceeding smoothly. Two of 10 new 737NGs [on order] just arrived. Ethiopian has twelve A350s and ten 787s on order. Ethiopian Airlines expects that the first 787 will be delivered in January next year to bring a total of four 787s into service in 2012.
Ethiopian currently operates eleven 767-300s, with eight of the type slated for retirement by 2016. It also operates four777-200LRs, eight 757-200ERs, five 737-700s, five 737-800s and eight Bombardier Q400s.
Source: ATW News
