CHANTILLY, VIRGINIA (Fox News) — Federal authorities say they’ve discovered a stowaway who arrived at a Washington-area airport in the cargo hold of a flight from Ethiopia.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Steve Sapp says ground personnel at Dulles International Airport were pulling baggage from Ethiopian Airlines Flight 500 when they noticed an arm sticking out.
Sapp says the stowaway was an Ethiopian man who was exhausted and dehydrated. He was taken to Reston Hospital Center and is now being held at a federal detention center.
Sapp says the man has been charged with being a stowaway and will be deported, but is not a security threat.
He says the flight departed from Addis Ababa and stopped in Rome before landing at Dulles shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday.
U.S. to send back stowaway on plane from Ethiopia
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A stowaway on a flight from Ethiopia was being detained in Washington and will be sent back, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
Baggage handlers discovered the man, described as in his late 30s, in the luggage compartment of an Ethiopian Airways Boeing 767 that landed at Dulles International Airport on Saturday, the newspaper said.
The stowaway was dehydrated and exhausted but a Customs and Border Protection spokesman said he did not appear to present a threat, the Post reported.
Customs spokesman Steve Sapp told the newspaper the man, who was not identified, would face an administrative charge and would be sent back on an Ethiopian Airways plane.
A U.S. Customs official did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
By Kaleyesus Bekele | Reporter
The Ethiopian Airlines is planning to establish a regional hub in Southern Africa by establishing another airline.
Recently Ethiopian bought a 25 percent stake on ASKY, a newly-established private airline in Togo. Ethiopian is now establishing a regional hub in West Africa, Lome. Girma Wake, CEO, told Airline Business that Ethiopian may ultimately duplicate the model by forming a southern Africa hub. “South is probably the next place we will look to. We are looking from Zambia to Mozambique, Botswana and Malawi,” Girma said.
However, he said his airline does not want to do many things at a time. “We do not want to do many things at once. We want to make sure ASKY is operating profitably first. Starting two carriers at once could cause problems. So we will do it gradually,” he said.
Ethiopian has a strong network in Africa. Today Ethiopian serves 33 destinations and hopes to reach at least 45 by 2015, starting with three additions this year.
In a bid to strengthen its regional partnerships in Africa, Ethiopian recently signed a five-year management contract with west and central African regional start-up, ASKY, which was promoted by Eco Bank, a Togolese bank. ASKY, which will launch its operations shortly, will operate Boeing 737 aircraft.
Under the plan, ASKY and Ethiopian will feed one another’s networks, with Lome forming a hub for flights in West Africa and beyond. Within five years ASKY is planning to form other West African hubs and branch out into international flights, using Boeing Being 767 to serve long-haul destinations.
Ethiopian is one the few airlines which is making a profit during the current economic downturn. Last year Ethiopian handled 2.5 million passengers and delivered 970 million dollars in revenue, only 30 million dollars shy of its 2010 target. Its jet fleet rose to 26 and its net profit reached a record high of 53.7 million dollars.
