Ethiopian Airlines to Expand Operations in India
Ethiopian Airlines is continuing its overseas expansion amid plans to extend operations in India.
The company is investing in India’s booming aviation market, which has outperformed the US and China in domestic passenger growth. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam says the firm is “looking forward” to adding more flight operations between the two countries.
New route between Ethiopia and India
Ethiopian Airlines currently operates a daily double service between the capital Addis Ababa and India’s New Delhi and Mumbai. The carrier also runs freight operations to the same cities, in addition to Bengaluru and Chennai – the second of which is next in line for commercial flights.
“We are looking forward to launching flight operations to Chennai from Ethiopia. We are keenly looking at [flying] passengers from Chennai,” the Ethiopia Airlines CEO said.
Expanding markets
Both Ethiopian Airlines and Air India have enjoyed a strong commercial year. India has seen massive growth in its aviation market in recent years: 19.4 percent between January and June last year alone. That’s the fastest rate of growth among the world’s leading aviation markets – faster than China and the US.
Air India has been a main benefactor of this growth and Ethiopian Airlines has worked closely with the firm. Both airlines are members of Star Alliance, which includes Singapore Airlines, Air China and other national carriers. The codesharing agreements between these airlines mean they can market shared flight paths under separate names while only one carrier operates them.
Featured image:
By BriYYZ from Toronto, Canada – Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777-200LR ET-ANR, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25907365
