Africa's largest airline is simply unstoppable. The vision and ambition of Ethiopian Airlines is untamed, burning, and unquenchable. They break every barrier, they tap into new markets, they expand their wings massively. They plan to take over and conquer Africa's skies.
The company has been in a vigorous drive to increase their assets, something which they are doing excellently. To help solidify and cement their domestic and regional reach, the company has purchased new aircraft that is valued at around $332 million. The airlines is getting into new territory and markets, especially those with low traffic density routes and small or challenging airfields.
With Ethiopian Airlines being the most profitable airline in Africa, they are fully utilizing their advantage, and have a comfortable edge over competitors like Kenyan Airways and South African Airways. Ethiopian Airlines is owned by the state and at present it operates 96 passenger aircraft and freighters and has more than 60 fleets on order. These figures easily makes the carrier the largest in Africa.
When it comes to destinations and reach, it essentially is Africa's carrier. It flies to over 20 in-country locations, 58 destinations in Africa, and more than 100 cities in five continents globally. From 2007 to 2016, the number of aircraft owned by the airlines significantly doubled. In 2007, the figure stood at 35. By 2016 the figure of aircraft owned doubled to 89. The company has done extremely excellent to the extent that they have been surpassing their own targets. They had planned to operate 100 planes by 2025, forcing them to revise their targets. According to CEO Tewolde Gebremariam, the company should operate "150 or more" planes in the next seven years.
Ethiopian Airlines is now capitalizing on the improved intra-African travel that has become relatively affordable, and from that they aim to be a pan-African passenger and cargo network that connects the continent. That's just how enormous their visions are. With their good track record, no one can doubt they can do this and actually ease some transport problems on the continent.
They are well on course towards achieving that goal. It has been partly achieved by reviving defunct or struggling airlines like Zambia Airways and also through strategic partnerships and investments. The company also manages hubs in countries including Malawi and Togo to spread its footprint and is currently looking to establish more central locations in Mozambique, Chad, and Equatorial Guinea.
The aviation academy run by the company is ranked is ranked highly among the world's top training centres. Services of its major airport in Addis Ababa are being improved and expanded. New destinations in the global market have also been introduced by the company, apart from expanding its African reach. It has introduced 10 new destinations in just six months in 2018. These include flights to Kisangani in DR Congo, Nosy Be in Madagascar, and Geneva, Switzerland.
The company is brimming with excellence and burning zeal. They are on a strategic trajectory to bring glory to the skies of Africa. With all their doing, it is no doubt they can achieve, and even over-achieve.