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Ethiopian Airlines considering flights to Hangzhou
October 20th 2017
Without a doubt, Ethiopian Airlines has emerged as Africa’s leading international carrier in the past decade. Read More » No other airline from the African continent boasts as large a network as Ethiopian’s, particularly to the Asia-Pacific.
A Star Alliance member, it recently announced it would increase frequency between Chengdu and its Addis Ababa hub from three a week B787-8 flights to four flights weekly from December 10. It launched the route in May.
Speaking to Xinhua this week, Ethiopian CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, said the state-controlled carrier was considering launching flights to Hangzhou, near Shanghai. Hangzhou is an emerging IT hub and the home of e-commerce giant Alibaba.
There are no nonstop flights between Africa, Europe and Hangzhou at the moment. On Tuesday, United Airlines flew its final Hangzhou-San Francisco B787 service. It launched the route in 2016 after it was unable to secure desirable slots at Shanghai Pudong for a second daily flight.
Hangzhou would be Ethiopian’s fifth destination in China, following Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai. The airline also flies to Hong Kong. Gebremariam had previously flagged the potential of direct flights between Addis and Shenzhen.
