Ethiopian Airlines has embarked on a strong expansion programme that includes pressing of an order for 10 Boeing 787-800 dream-liners.
The airline’s world sales manager Amare Tsadik briefed Malawian travel operators during their weekend visit at Ethiopian Airlines head office in Addis Ababa to orient them on what the airline offers.
“The aviation market in Africa and globally is strong. The 9/11 had bare or minimal effect on our company and we have continued to grow, posting close to US$800 million in profits in 2007 and we expect over US$1.2 billion this year,” said Tsadik.
Ethiopian Airlines—which operated its first flight to Cairo, Egypt in 1946—has grown in terms of passenger numbers to 2.5 million in the last financial year flying into 50 destinations
“Africa has a great market we look at the market and we want to ensure that our customers have the best facilities. That is why we built an all-purpose cargo terminal which holds any cargo including wet cargo,” said Tsadik.
On his part, the airline’s senior marketing officer Fasika Beharnu took Malawi tour operators to the airline’s head office, aviation school, maintenance and cargo places explaining that the company employs close to 5,000 people and provides its own services.
“When you are selling tickets in Malawi we want you to understand the product your are selling is a complete product. We provide most of our service from cleaning to catering, training and maintenance to ensure that we provide quality standards,’ said Beharnu.
The aviation school also trains international pilots, cabin crews and maintenance staff and the company does offer many of its services across the continent.
Kenneth Kamole of Lloyds Travel said the tour was beneficial to the travel agents as they could now explain properly what Ethiopian Airlines offers to its customers.
Through Ethiopian Airlines, air cargo can be directly sent to Lilongwe from over 50 destinations which include business hubs of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Bangkok in Thailand, Beijing in Mainland China, Hong Kong, London in the United Kingdom and Washington DC.