By Ogova Ondego
Published March 3, 2014
Ethiopian Airlines is on March 29 and June 2, 2014 introducing daily flights to China’s Shanghai and Austria’s Vienna, respectively.
ET, as the Addis Ababa-based airline is popularly known, currently flies to Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Hong Kong.
Operating a B787 Dreamliner, ‘The New Spirit of Africa’ is scheduled to leave Addis Ababa for Shanghai at 20.30 GMT/UTC.
ET, that currently serves 79 international destinations across five continents with more than 200 daily flights using some of the latest technology aircraft such as the B777s and B787s, has announced the commencement of four weekly flights to Vienna.
The flights to Vienna will provide Ethiopian customers convenient connections, with minimum layover in Addis Ababa, to 48 African destinations.
“We are very happy to spread our wings to Vienna, which is one of the most popular convention and conference centers in Europe. In addition to serving the growing travel needs between Vienna and Africa, we will be able to offer efficient connections between Africa and Central/Eastern Europe in cooperation with our Star Alliance partner, Austrian Airlines. Europe, which is still the largest trading partner of Africa, is an important region for us,” Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian, says.
Vienna is not just the political capital and economic hub of Austria; the city is a major diplomatic centre and seat of United Nations agencies such as United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Ethiopian flights to Vienna are expected to bring the total number of its international destinations across five continents to 80. The city will mark the 9th European city served by the airline. Through commercial cooperation with Austrian Airlines, a fellow Star Alliance member with strong network in Central Europe, Ethiopian aims to provide seamless and convenient connectivity options for travellers between Africa and European cities such Prague, Bratislava, Warsaw, Budapest, and Bucharest.
