Ethiopian Airlines - The African Mirror

May

02

2024

Ethiopian Airlines sees 30% surge in passengers this year, CEO says

BUSINESS

ETHIOPIAN Airlines expects to carry 30% more passengers in the year ended June than the year before, its chief executive told Reuters, buoyed by new routes and a rebound in global travel. Africa's biggest airline, however, faces risks from delayed aircraft deliveries and the grounding of some planes due to engine shortages caused by supply chain disruptions, Mesfin Tasew Bekele said in an interview. "We have a lot of challenges. For example, today we have aircraft shortage since the manufacturers, particularly Boeing, are delaying aircraft deliveries," he said. The delivery problems mainly affect narrow-body passenger jets from Boeing, he said,…

Jan

26

2023

By The African Mirror

U.S. safety board chair rebukes Ethiopia over Boeing 737 MAX report

NEWS

DAVID SHEPARDSON THE National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) faulted Ethiopia's final report into the March 2019 Boeing 737 MAX fatal crash and said investigators did not adequately address the performance of the flight crew. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said in an interview that Ethiopia's Aircraft Investigation Bureau (EAIB) had made errors in its report. "We feel what they did not do is really delve into the flight crew performance issues and whether they were adequately prepared," Homendy said. "We felt like it was not as comprehensive and robust as it could have been." The MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019…

Mar

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Ethiopian Airlines says ready to transport COVID-19 vaccines

NEWS

ETHIOPIAN Airlines is set to take a lead role in ferrying COVID-19 vaccines around the world and expects demand for the service to last for up to three years, its head of cargo services said yesterday. Africa's biggest carrier has turned to cargo services to shore up revenue after the onset of the coronavirus crisis last year sent passenger numbers down sharply. "We have aircrafts converted from passengers by removing their seats, 16 of them, which are very wide aircrafts converted to transport vaccines," Fitsum Abadi, the managing director of Ethiopian Cargo, told Reuters. He was speaking after an Ethiopian…

Sep

05

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopian Airlines in rescue talks with South African Airways – CEO

BUSINESS

ETHIOPIAN Airlines is in talks over possible involvement in the rescue of flagship carrier South African Airways (SAA), the head of the airline told Reuters on Friday. SAA hasn’t made a profit since 2011 and has been under a form of bankruptcy protection since late last year. Creditors have approved a restructuring plan, but the government needs to find at least 10 billion rand ($580 million) of funding for it to work. “Some discussion is taking place between ET and the South African Public Enterprises Ministry,” Tewolde Gebremariam said, “but it is at a very initial level and part of…

Feb

28

2021

By The African Mirror

Boeing crash: Families wants CEOs to testify

NEWS

ERIC M JOHNSON LAWYERS for families of a fatal Boeing Co 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia are seeking testimony from the planemaker's chief executive Dave Calhoun and his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg, among other current and former employees, according to a court filing. The Boeing 737 MAX crash on Ethiopian Airlines on March 10, 2019, occurred five months after a similar disaster on a Lion Air flight, together killing 346 people and sparking a hailstorm of investigations and lawsuits. While Boeing has mostly settled civil litigation stemming from the Lion Air crash, it is still facing over a 100 lawsuits in…