Ethiopian Airlines grows 13% in FY13; nine European points served

Founded on 21 December 1945, Ethiopian Airlines (formerly known as Ethiopian Air Lines until 1965) is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, headquartered in Addis Ababa. The wholly government-owned carrier has established itself as the third largest airline in Africa, with a weekly seat share of 6.2% (according to Innovata schedule data for week commencing 2 September 2014), behind South African Airways and EGYPTAIR. The airline itself promotes the fact that it operates a fleet of 68 units (including Boeing and Bombardier aircraft types). However, its strategic plan is to incorporate an additional 30 airframes into its fleet in the following years, out of which 14 are A350-900s.

A Star Alliance member since December 2011, Ethiopian Airlines has been growing without interruption in recent years, as analysis of Innovata seat capacity reveals that around 200,000 weekly seats will be offered this September, and 45% more since anna.aero last looked at this carrier three years ago.

Traffic grows by 13% in FY2013

Examination of Ethiopian Airlines’ traffic data indicates that the airline handled 5.2 million passengers in FY2013 (a new record high), representing an increase of 13% when compared to FY2012 figures. Even though its load factor went down 0.6%, the financial year ending June 2013 was not a bad year for the carrier, as it managed to grow its total revenue by 9.2% to $2.15 billion, as well as its ASKs by 15%.

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