As Ethiopian Retains Titles as Leading Airline in Africa

Chinedu Eze

Consistent strategy and capacity building are key factors that have made Ethiopian Airlines the number one in Africa, according to aviation experts.

Without the success of the airline, it would have been assumed that airline business in Africa is precarious, but the East Africa airliner continues to give hope to the continent and giving a cue to other carriers and start-up on the continent.

Recently, Ethiopian Airlines Group, the fastest-growing airline brand globally and the continent’s leading airline brand, has been crowned again with ‘The Best Airline in Africa’ title at the SKYTRAX 2023 World Airline Awards during the Paris Air Show held in France, Paris on June 20, 2023.

This is the sixth time in a row that Ethiopian Airlines has been recognized as the Best Airline in Africa at the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards.
Sending his congratulatory message on the award, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mr. Mesfin Tasew said: “We are truly pleased by the top award that we received today at the admired World Airline Awards.

Crowned with Skytrax’s prestigious awards for several years in a row is a testimony of our consistency and commitment in delivering high quality services. We are very proud of the strong vote of confidence of our valued customers, and I would like to thank them and reaffirm that we will continue exceeding their expectations. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely appreciate the hardworking Ethiopian Airlines’ families who strive round the clocks to keep the engines of our success run.”

CEO of Skytrax, Edward Plaisted said: “Ethiopian Airlines wins this top award as Africa’s favourite carrier for a sixth successive year and this level of consistency is a fabulous achievement for all the Ethiopian Airlines management and frontline staff.”
The airline in a statement said the World Airline Awards referred to by media around the world as ‘the Oscars of the aviation industry’ are wholly independent and impartial, introduced in 1999 to provide a customer satisfaction study that was truly global. It observed that travellers across the world vote in the largest airline passenger satisfaction survey to determine the award winners.

Over 100 customer nationalities participated in the 2022/2023 survey with more than 20 million eligible entries counted in the results. More than 325 airlines are featured in the final Award results. It is to be recalled that Ethiopian amasses a plethora of awards including but not limited to: ‘The Best Airlines in Africa’ from SKYTRAX World Airline Awards for the last several years in a row; ‘Sustainable Cargo Airline of the Year -Africa’ at the 2023 Freight Week Sustainability Awards; ‘Outstanding Food Services by a Carrier’ at the 2023 PAX International Readership Awards; and ‘Best Overall in Africa Award’ at the 2023 APEX Passenger Choice Awards.

In another cap, the airline is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the start of its services to the United States. Ethiopian said it connected Africa with the US in June 1998 with its cross-Atlantic flights to Washington D.C., the capital city and federal district of the United States.
Ethiopian and the US aviation industry share an impressive relationship that dates back to the 1940s when the airline was founded in December 1945, in partnership with Trans World Airlines (TWA). In the years since then, Ethiopian has been a proud partner to American aviation firms including Boeing and GE Aerospace.

Sending his congratulatory message on the Anniversary, Tasew said, “We are pleased to mark this milestone and celebrate the 25th Anniversary of our successful services to the US. Ethiopian has become a pioneer African flag carrier by starting services to Washington D.C., in June 1998. Our flights have been instrumental in facilitating trade and businesses, promoting tourism, and strengthening socio-economic ties between Africa and the US. Ethiopian now is connecting the US with Africa direct from Addis Ababa, Lomé, and Abidjan cities. We are indebted to the US Government and our aviation partners for the mutually beneficial cooperation that lasts over the past 75 years of our journey. As the US will always remain a significant part of our strategic expansion plan, we will continue connecting the US with the African market to enhance cooperation between the two regions.”

Commending on Ethiopian role of availing connectivity services, Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Ethiopia said: “Two countries, and our aviation sectors, share a long and unique history. In 1945, African-American pilot Colonel John C. Robinson, traveled to Ethiopia to train pilots and to help organise the country’s national airline. Ethiopian Airlines now connects Ethiopia to the rest of the African continent and the world. With the start of direct flight service to the United States in 1998, flying U.S.-manufactured aircraft, Ethiopian Airlines has provided a vital link between the United States, Ethiopia, and Africa, and that link has grown stronger as the number of direct flights to the United States has grown.”

Ethiopian, the best African Airline, said it has been successfully connecting the US with its more than 60 African destinations for the past 25 years. The airline transported more than half a million passengers to and from the US only from June 2022- May 2023. As a pan-African airline committed to bringing Africa together and closer to the world, Ethiopian will continue to enhance the connectivity between the US and Africa. Currently, Ethiopian serves more than 150 international and domestic passenger and cargo destinations including six in the US: five passenger services to Washington D.C., New York, Newark, Chicago, and Atlanta as well as a cargo service to Miami. Ethiopian operates 30 weekly flights to the US.