Qatar Airways begins flights to Addis Ababa

The Doha-Addis Ababa flights are operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays while the return flights from Addis Ababa to Doha are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. According to the airways, the Doha-Addis Ababa route is served with an Airbus A320 featuring up to 12 seats in Business class and up to 132 seats in economy.

“Ethiopia is one of the driving forces behind the change which is taking place in the African economy, hence why we opening up a new route to Addis Ababa makes a great deal of business sense, “ Akbar al Baker, chief executive officer of Qatar Airways, said. “Passenger demand prompted this new route and I am excited that we are able to bring our award-winning five-star services to Ethiopia for first time,” Al Baker said.

Qatar Airways celebrated the launch of its new route by providing school uniforms and books for school-age children participating in the “Our Father’s Kitchen Program”. Our Father’s Kitchen Program is a feeding programme which provides daily meals for approximately 216 unprivileged children in three different neighborhoods in Addis Ababa.

Middle East carriers are aggressively expanding their routes in Africa. Thirteen international airlines fly to Addis Ababa. Emirates, Fly Dubai, Gulf Air and Etihad Cargo are the Middle East carriers that fly to Addis Ababa. Etihad wants to serve the Dubai Addis route but this could not materialise due to the absence of bilateral air service agreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ethiopia. The gulf carriers are also investing on African carriers by buying stakes in local airlines.

Source: TheReporterEthiopia.com