Ethiopian Airlines: how Africa built its biggest airline
Founded in 1945 with American help, it now flies to 155 passenger destinations and serves more countries than all but three airlines on Earth.
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Addis Ababa — Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's largest airline by passengers carried, destinations served, fleet size and revenue. It is also the world's fourth-largest airline by the number of countries it serves. Its slogan sums up its ambition: The New Spirit of Africa.
An emperor's project
After Ethiopia's liberation from Italian occupation, Emperor Haile Selassie I sought help from the United States, Britain and France to build a national airline as part of modernising the country. In September 1945 an agreement was signed with the American airline TWA. Ethiopian Air Lines was founded on 21 December 1945, with an initial capital of 2.5 million birr held entirely by the government, and began flying on 8 April 1946.
At first it relied on American pilots, technicians and managers, and even its general managers came from TWA. International flights began in 1951; in 1965 it became a share company and took the name Ethiopian Airlines.
A continental network
From its hub at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian today serves 155 passenger destinations, 22 of them at home, and 68 cargo destinations. It has secondary hubs in Togo and Malawi, linking West and Southern Africa to its network.
It joined the International Air Transport Association in 1959, the African Airlines Association in 1968 and Star Alliance in 2011. The airline is wholly owned by the state through Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the country's sovereign wealth fund.
Background: Wikipedia.
