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While Ethiopia as a country has preserved many of
its
ancient traditions that include unique religious music, monastic
traditions and
colorful seasonal rituals, the country's air carrier, Ethiopian Airlines,
has not only managed to preserve the country's hospitable culture
for the
last 60 years, but has also embraced modern aero technology to turn
flying many
miles into many smiles. 
UGPulse Promo
Fasilides' Castle in Gondar, Amhara Region by Dawit Rezene.
Ethiopian Airlines which started with a single old aircraft in 1946 had by the late 1950s
started
modernizing. The humble beginnings, according to Ethiopian Airlines'
area
manager for Uganda, Ermejachew Regassa, helped make Ethiopian Airlines
what it
is today. The airline now operates a modern fleet of 30 aircraft
including six
Boeing 767-300s, which are used for long haul passenger services, Boeing 757s, Boeing 737-700s, Boeing 737-260,
some Fokker 50s, while three DHC Twin Otters fly domestic routes.
Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767: Click to Enlarge.
Regassa says that because of its modernization
strategies,
the airline has placed an order for ten Boeing 787 aircraft which will
make
Ethiopia Airlines the second airline in the world to purchase this kind of aircraft. "Ethiopian airlines
continues
to upgrade its aircraft to meet market demand and to generally improve its service," she says.
Ethiopian Airlines' area
manager for Uganda, Ermejachew Regassa makes a speech at the company's
60th anniversary.
History of the
airline
Ethiopia airlines started as a local airline
company in 1946
and a year later started flying outside
Ethiopia's boarders, first within Africa, then Europe, Asia and later
the
United States. "Our first international flight was Addis Ababa - Cairo
in 1947
and then addis Ababa - Nairobi in the same year. We have been flying to
Entebbe, Uganda for last 40 years. We are truly one of the pioneers of
African
aviation," says Regassa.
The airline now flies to over fifty destinations,
most of
them in Africa. Today, the airline flies from its home in Addis Ababa
to Dire
Dawa, Djibouti, Hargeisa, Entebbe, Nairobi, Khartoum, Juba, Bujumbura,
Dar-es-salaam, Kilimanjaro and Kigali in Central Africa. In southern Africa, it
has flights to Harare, Johannesburg, Luanda,
Lilongwe,
Lusaka and N'djamena while in West Africa it goes through
Abidjan,
Accra, Bamako, Brazzaville, Kinshasa, Dakar, Lome, Lagos and Libreville.
Outside the African continent, Ethiopian Airlines
now flies
to Dubai, Jeddah, Beirut, Cairo and Tel Aviv in the Middle East, New
Delhi and
Mumbai in South Asia, Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris,
Rome and
Stockholm in Europe.
In the Far East, Ethiopia Airline has routes to
Beijing,
Bangkok, Hong Kong and Guangzhou while in North America it flies to
Washington, DC.
"Our plan is to expand wherever there is a market. That plan
continues," says
Regassa.
Regassa contends that the airline, which has until
the past
few years been carrying about 1.5 million passengers a year, had by
2006
reached the 2 million passengers-a-year mark. She attributes this
partly to
the increasing number of flights per week and the improvement in the
services offered
to their customers. "We started with two (flights) and grew to three
then four
per week and currently, we have daily flights from Entebbe to Addis
Ababa where
a fast route connection exists," Regassa explained at
the
airline office in Kampala.
Regassa projects that by 2010, Ethiopian Airlines
shall be
carrying somewhere in the region of three million people per year and
that the
airline market will still be centered in Africa because there is a lot
of
potential. "Our vision has and still remains bringing Africa together
and the
rest of the world closer. We want to be Africa's world class airline by
2010,"
she says, adding that the airline is preparing itself to accomplish
that
strategic plan and is sure of doing just that.
Reason for the growth
in customers
"The fleet is flexible, cost effective and
maximizes
passenger comfort and safety. We know that a satisfied customer is one
who
wants to travel with us always. We usually have people who continuously
fly
with us," explains Regassa. To achieve this, Regassa says, Ethiopian Airlines
has been focusing on service improvement including adapting to the
ever-advancing technological innovations as well as focusing on the
safety of
its passengers.
To meet its safety goals, the airline operates
a test cell unit which measures the safety of all aircraft after the servicing of the aircraft, making Ethiopia Airlines one of the safest in the
world. It is
no wonder that Ethiopia Airlines recently passed the International Air
Transport Association IATA Operation Safety Audit (IOSA) and was awarded an IOSA
certificate
for passenger safety.
By getting the
certificate,
Ethiopia Airlines became one of the only five Sub-Saharan Africa
carriers to
have successfully passed the IOSA audit. The Chief Executive of
Ethiopian
Airlines, Ato Girma Wake says, "The IOSA registration is another
indication
that Ethiopia Airlines ranks among the world's best airlines."
To keep up with technological advancement in the
face of
today's very dynamic aviation industry, Ethiopia airlines had by the end of 2006 started
offering online (internet) booking and electronic ticketing services to
all its
destinations. "The expansion of these innovative services to all
Ethiopian
Airlines' routes will provide our customers with greater convenience
through
s implified and fast booking, ticketing and check-in," reads a statement
dated
April 17, 2007 in part.
Customers at Ethiopian Airlines' Kampala office.
According to the statement obtained from the
Kampala area
office, electronic ticketing allows Ethiopian Airlines passengers a
seamless
travel experience when connecting to its many interline partners.
Regassa says
that to promote the online booking service, Ethiopian Airlines
introduced a 5
percent discount for customers booking online at www.ethiopianairlines.com. Regassa says that the feed back indicates
that Ethiopian Airlines' customers are satisfied. "We give maximum care
when
handling passengers. According to passenger feedback, they like our
hospitality
from ticketing to in-flight service," she says.
Entertainment on
flights
While aboard Ethiopian Airlines, you do not have a
reason to
get bored or feel the length of the journey. Documentary films about
wildlife
in Ethiopian Airlines' destinations, modern films and films about
Ethiopian
airlines all make the journey an enjoyable experience. "Many of
our
clients are business people who want to know where to go for
shopping or what to expect at their destination and that is what we
provide,"
says the airline chief in Uganda.
Other unique elements
about Ethiopian airlines
There are two classes of services on Ethiopian
Airlines - the
Cloud 9 and the Economy class. Cloud 9 is a combination of the
traditional
first class and the business class. For those who want maximum
satisfaction
when they have some extra to pay for comfort, this is the class to go
for. If your wallet is not so heavy, you
can fly
Economy Class. The service here is still good yet the price is much
more
affordable.
The other unique feature about Ethiopian Airlines
is that it
does not only provide passenger and cargo transport services but also
trains
pilots, technicians, mechanics and the like for other airline companies
at its
Addis Ababa training unit.
Like Regassa says, Ethiopian Airlines has progressed
thus far since it was started in the 1940s thanks to proper planning.
For
example the acquisition of the Boeing
Dream liner 787
by 2008 will be one way of making the airline one of the most advanced
on the
planet so that it continues turning more miles into more smiles.
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