Ethiopian Airlines issued the following press statement today:
“The Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines was misquoted by the media and never said Ethiopian Airlines is the frontrunner to partner in the Nigeria Air project. He said that Ethiopian, as a Pan-African airline, has expressed interest to partner in the project and is among those being considered by Nigerian Government.”
Ethiopian Airlines, formerly Ethiopian Air Lines (EAL) and often referred to as simply Ethiopian, is Ethiopia’s flag carrier and is wholly owned by the country’s government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to international flights in 1951. The firm became a share company in 1965 and changed its name from Ethiopian Air Lines to Ethiopian Airlines. The airline has been a member of the International Air Transport Association since 1959 and of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) since 1968. Ethiopian is a Star Alliance member, having joined in December 2011.
Its hub and headquarters are at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, from where it serves a network of 125 passenger destinations—20 of them domestic—and 44 freighter destinations. The airline has secondary hubs in Togo and Malawi. Ethiopian flies to more destinations in Africa than any other carrier. It is one of the fastest-growing companies in the industry and is the largest on the African continent.
