Ethiopian Airlines continues to grow despite challenges – Abiy

The Ethiopian Airlines Group, which managed the Covid- pandemic that hit the aviation sector without the need for bailouts, is getting back on a growth trajectory and adding new destinations.

Speaking to parliamentarians, PM Abiy said the reforms taken by the government in the past three and half years has helped the airline’s growth to continue unabated.

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Since the start of the reform, Ethiopian has increased its number of aircraft from 100 to 135 and international destinations from 115 to 127. The annual customer accommodation capacity of Bole International Airport has increased from 6 million to 22 million passengers.

These expansions have enabled the airline’s annual revenue to increase from 3.3 billion to 4.8 billion US dollars, Abiy said.

“While many of its competitors struggle, the airline has managed the pandemic without bailouts and continues its growth,”
Abiy said. This is because the reform created an enabling environment to lead the aviation sector properly, according to the PM.

Ethiopian revenue growth in recent years is underpinned by its quick shift to cargo services after the passenger service was hit by the pandemic that restricted travel, and booming demand in the air freight market due to surges in online shopping and pandemic-linked supplies.

Ethio telecom

Ethio Telecom, the country’s sole telecom services provider, is also among the institutions that benefited from the reform and registered growth despite challenges including security and pandemic, according to Abiy.

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The telco’s customers grew from 37.9 million to 65.5 million while its revenue grew from 33.5 billion to 55 billion birr.

“These remarkable results” were registered in spite of the fact that Ethio Telecom is unable to cover areas due to conflict, and decisions to tariff cuts, the Prime Minister said.