Ethiopian kicks off in April year-long celebration of 75th anniversary
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian Airline Group, the largest in Pan-Africa, kicked-off its year-long celebration of its 75th anniversary on 8 April 2021, the day when it launched its maiden international flight to Cairo, Egypt in 1946.
The airline also launched last month its high-end COVID-19 testing lab at its hub in the nation’s capital, the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, the continent’s busiest airport.
In partnership with BGI Health Ethiopia, a subsidiary of China’s biotech giant BGI Genomics Co. Ltd., the testing center provides quick and accurate COVID tests for up to 1,000 passengers daily with plans for expansion. Test results can be obtained within three hours, offering passengers convenience and speed.
Overcoming many ups and downs over its more than seven decades in aviation, Ethiopian marks its anniversary with the theme, “Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence.”
Commenting on the occasion, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said, “As we celebrate 75 years of excellence, we take stock of our accomplishments over three quarters of a century. Among the many firsts introduced by Ethiopian are the first Jet aircraft in Africa, the first East Africa to West Africa scheduled flight, the first airline from the Western Hemisphere to fly to China, the first scheduled service between the capitals of the most populous nations in the world (from New Delhi to Beijing), the first airline in Africa to introduce the B767, B777-200LR, B787 (the Dreamliner) and later on the A350 to Africa.”
“Today, our industry faces a serious challenge posed by COVID-19. The route we chose to overcome this challenge is to tighten our belt, change the way we do business and be agile. We remain the only commercial airline that hasn’t sought government bailout and didn’t lay off a single employee. I would like to take this opportunity to cement our commitment to sustainable aviation and continue to work with all stakeholders to enhance Africa’s air connectivity. While congratulating all Ethiopian families, I would like to thank our esteemed customers for their strong vote of confidence, their loyalty and support,” he added.
The airline attributed its success to the four pillars of its growth strategy—human resource development, modern fleet, infrastructure development and technology.
