Ethiopian Airlines Unveils Expansion Plans

Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines aims to expand its fleet and network map. It currently has 140 aircraft and plans to add at least 130 more by 2035. The next round of aircraft orders will be a mix of narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, including the Embraer E2 series, Airbus A220, Boeing 737 MAX, Airbus A320neo, 777X, and A350-1000. The airline is also planning to expand its network to Australia, the Americas, and Europe and increase flights to Toronto and apply for traffic rights to Montreal.

In the current financial year, which ends June 30, Ethiopian Airlines received 12 new aircraft. Ethiopian Airlines currently serves 63 international destinations in Africa and plans to increase its domestic network from 20 to 27 airports with the construction of five new airports.

The Airlines has fully recovered to pre-pandemic operational levels. For the current fiscal year it expects to report slightly higher passenger numbers of 13 million compared to 12.2 million in 2019. The airline's revenue is expected to be about 50 percent higher than pre-COVID levels, partially due to cargo. Cargo still has a big contribution to the airline's overall revenue.

Ethiopian Airlines Group has already achieved its vision 2025. It is now working towards meeting its vision 2035 which is aimed at increasing the airline’s destinations to 207 from the current 131. The vision also aims to almost double the Ethiopian Airline’s fleet by increasing the airline’s number of aircraft to 271. In addition, the Group is envisioning to earn USD 25 billion in revenue by the year 2035.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

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