While in his recent presentation at the Terminal 2 of Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos, a top executive of Ethiopian Airlines took time to enumerate the many feats achieved so far by the pan-African airline founded in 1945.
“With 66 aircraft of seven years average, we have flown over 6 million passengers and connecting 49 points in Africa to the rest of the world. Over the years, we have established 82 international and 18 local destinations. And to achieve and sustain all these feats, we have three hubs-the main one in Addis Ababa, the 2nd in Lome, Togo, while the 3rd is in Lilongwe Malawi,” he stated.
The airlines has over 8000 professionals on its payroll that handle over 1330 weekly flights and 200 daily departures from its main hub, Esaya Wondermariam Hailu, managing director, International Services, Ethiopian Airlines, emphasized.
Yet, the fast, profitable and sustainable growth of the airline is amazing with a revenue of $US2.1 billion and an operating profit of $110 million in its 2012-13 Performance.
But what baffled the audience was Hailu’s insistence that Ethiopian Airlines was 100 percent owned by the Ethiopian Government.
The question as to why other African airlines owned by various African governments are collapsing rhetorically echoed around the hall by most of the audience, especially the media.
Hailu was quick at the rescue. While the airline is 100 percent owned by government, it is 100 percent managed by an efficient team with 100 percent non-interference by government.
Of course, that is the reason its passengers, destinations, fleet and profit keep soaring.
The secret, according to him is not the ownership. “Whether private or government owned, if it is squandered or mismanaged, the airline will wind-up. So, it is a matter of diligent management”, he explained. Though the Ethiopian government has given the management of the airline 100 percent autonomy to run the company with industry discipline in economic sense, Hailu said the only thing that bothers government at the end of the year, is performance.
Core to its success in the Africa skies is its recognition of the different halves in Africa, and frantic efforts at integrating them. That, according to Hailu informed the establishment of the two hubs outside the main one in Addis Ababa.
With Asky, its brand that operates from its second hub is Lome, the Togolese capital, Ethiopian Airlines carters for passengers in the Francophone Africa such as Togo, and even the Anglophones such as Monrovia, Banju, Accra among others.
Yet, it boosts its African skies integration with The Malawian, its brands operating from its third hub in Lilongwe, Malawi from where it reaches destinations such as Johannesburg, Dar Salam, Lusaka, Bulawayo among others. Plans are also in the pipeline to establish a hub in Central Africa.
But with all these feats, the airline is not resting on its mission of connecting more destinations in Africa and to the rest of the world. Hence, Hailu was happy visiting Nigeria and highlighting the airlines recent milestone in Nigeria.
Of course, being the only airline to fly from four destinations in Nigeria is a feat on its own. From Lagos, Ethiopian Airlines now airlift passengers from Enugu, Abuja and Kano. “Ethiopian Airlines is not just a business establishment or an airline operating in Nigeria, we also want to impact the people and country we do business in. We now operate in four geopolitical zones of the country as our way of appreciating our growing customers and also encouraging them to fly to any destination across the world from their own international destinations”, Hailu explained.
The expansion in Nigeria offers Solomon Yadeta, general manager Nigeria, Ethiopian Airlines, more task as the airline makes more efforts at getting its fair share of the eight million passengers that travel out of Nigeria every year. It is also positioning in respond to the projection that the number may double in the next five years as Nigeria is yet to get a national carrier.
But while Nigeria is faced with a dilemma of how to develop viable airlines that will effectively airlift the growing passengers out of the country, Ethiopian Airline came for the rescue, at least, it is pan-Africa, severally decorated as best airline in Africa, and also reckoned among the best in the world.
Going by the numbers, it is also sad that Nigerian carriers airlift less than 5 percent of international passengers that depart from the country daily, mega carriers from Europe and the US handle about 75 percent, while other African carriers, foremost of which is Ethiopian Airlines, airlift about 20 percent.
The deficiency is core to the rationale behind Ethiopian Airlines’ African skies integration and Aviation Academy, which is positioned to train 1000 graduates annually, and 4,000 by 2025.
Again, the airline is not resting until it flies the whole of Africa, connecting the continent to the rest of the world because of its strong conviction in these facts: Africa is the last frontier of globalization with 1 billion population, second fastest growing continent, projected 6 percent GDP growth in the next decade, GDP of $2.6 trillion by 2020, among others.
But Hailu is not merely selling the airline. Just like an ambassador, he explained why Ethiopia is a total package for passengers-whether for business, work, transiting or even holiday.
He therefore urged Nigerians to stop over in the East African country to see more than the airline. In order to enable passengers and tourists alike to see more of the country’s rich ancient history, relics and breathtaking landscapes, Hailu said the airline has established Ethiopian Holidays.
So, why wait to connect Africa or reach out to the rest of the world when flying, air and business connections and even holidays are seamless with Ethiopian Airlines, Hailu concluded.
OBINNA EMELIKE
