Tag Archives: Tewolde GebreMariam

Ethiopian Airlines has recently inaugurated a state-of-the-art passenger terminal and its Skylight Hotel in the presence of FDRE Prime Minister H E Dr Abiy Ahmed, African Union Chairperson H E Moussa Faki, ministers, high level government officials, Ethiopian Airlines’ Board Members, Ethiopian Airlines’ Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam, Executive Management Members and invited guests. After presiding over the ribbon-cutting event at the new Skylight Hotel, the largest in Ethiopia, Dr Ahmed, accompanied by AU Chairperson and other dignitaries, toured the hotel’s facilities including the spacious executive suites. At the passenger terminal inaugural event that ensued, Ahmed remarked, “Ethiopian Airlines is our national pride and a special icon among our companies as it carries our common name Ethiopia and our national flag. We would like all employees of the airline here and elsewhere to know that we speak of you with pride. The new hotel will enable us to attract tourists, and the airline’s offer for employees to own shares of the hotel is important as it boosts sense of ownership among staff, and will serve as a model for other companies to emulate.” Addressing the gathering at the inauguration ceremony, GebreMariam said, “This grand terminal building is further evidence of the development of Bole Airport as one of the largest and most convenient global aviation hubs. Ethiopian Skylight Hotel will enable the airline to offer packaged tour and travel programmes. Moreover, the hotel will enable Ethiopian Airlines to attract around a third of tourists out of the 6 million passengers transiting through Bole Airport to visit Ethiopia.” The new passenger terminal features the latest technology security systems, self-check-in machines, self-boarding system, comfortable lounges, duty free shops and other amenities. Ethiopian Skylight Hotel has 373 …

The Ethiopian Immigration and Nationality Affairs Main Department in collaboration with Ethiopian Airlines has recently launched an e-visa service for all international visitors to Ethiopia. Though the e-visa service initially launched in June 2017 was available for a limited number of countries, all international visitors will now be able to travel to Ethiopia by processing their visa online under the new initiative. The e- visa is processed and issued online on a single webpage where applicants apply, pay and secure their entry visa online. Once the application is approved, applicants will receive an email authorising them to travel to Ethiopia and they will get their passport stamped with the visa upon arrival in Addis Ababa. Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines, remarked, “Ethiopia is endowed with historical places, natural beauty, colourful and diverse cultural activities and various endemic wild animals which are of great interest to international tourists. However, we have not made the best use of these natural resources to attract tourists. To this effect, this project is part of a new national initiative to transform the tourism sector in the country.” The full commencement of the online visa application and issuance system will promote tourism, trade and investment to the country. It will save time, energy and cost for travellers to Ethiopia in addition to the simplicity and convenience that it facilitates.

Travelport and Ethiopian Airlines announced a new multi-year full-content agreement, which sees, Ethiopia’s flag carrier selecting Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform to promote its full inventory across the globe. Under the agreement, Travelport’s technology will support Ethiopian Airlines market and retail their offerings, in a more visual and effective way to a network of over 68,000 Travelport-connected travel agents in over 180 countries worldwide. The two companies have also renewed their long-term operator agreement, which will continue to see Ethiopian Airlines distributing Travelport’s technology in the country. This means that the Ethiopian customer base will continue to take advantage of Ethiopian Airlines’ regional expertise, and Travelport’s revolutionary products and services, including the industry-leading point of sale solution for agencies, Travelport Smartpoint, which was recently upgraded to further boost agent efficiency. Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines said: “We are very happy to continue and expand our collaboration with Travelport. As travel technology advances, Travelport will support our business meeting and exceeding travellers personalized needs. Travelport’s innovative solutions and unrivalled choice of travel content provide many opportunities to make our business stronger and we are looking forward to continuing to support the travel industry in Africa.” Rabih Saab, Travelport’s President & Managing Director for Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia, commented: “We are delighted to cement a successful 20 year relationship with Ethiopian Airlines, an airline that has established itself as a key component in the development of travel and tourism in the region , by signing both a full content and operator agreement. Travelport is committed to deliver a world of consumer ready content to the travel agent community and travellers, and support the country’s travel and tourism industry. …

Ethiopian Airlines has placed an order for 10 additional Airbus A350-900 aircraft, enabling further development to its fast expanding long-haul route network. Last June, Ethiopian Airlines became the first African carrier to operate the A350 when it took delivery of the first of 12 aircrafts in order. Today the carrier operates a fleet of four A350s. Ethiopian Airlines’ A350-900s are configured in a two class layout, seating 30 passengers in Business Class and 313 in Economy Class. The spacious, quiet interior and mood lighting in the cabin contribute to superior levels of passenger comfort and well-being. “Operating the youngest fleet in the industry with modern and comfortable customer features in cabin is one of the four pillars in our 15 years strategic road map and this order placement for additional A-350s is one component of this strategy. The performance, operational and cost efficiencies we have achieved with our initial A350-900s have resulted in these additional ten aircraft order placement and thereby suffice our ever-expanding global network. We will deploy the additional aircraft on our long haul routes connecting Addis Ababa with destinations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia,” explained Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines.

Ethiopian Airlines announced the commencement of direct and non-stop flights to Singapore five days a week at a reception ceremony held recently at Addis Ababa Bole Airport. The event was graced by Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines and members of the Transport Affairs Standing Committee from the House of People’s Representatives; aviation partner organizations; travel agencies; Ethiopian executive management and the likes. During the event, GebreMariam remarked that Singapore is one of the world’s biggest economic giants, a global financial centre, highly developed, innovative, business friendly and a preferred gateway to Asia and Australia. So this new flight service to Singapore will be of paramount importance in enhancing economic, cultural and social ties between Asia and Africa, Ethiopia and Singapore in particular.

Ethiopian Airlines will host the ICAO Global Aviation Training and TRAINAIR PLUS Symposium with the theme: “Together, Enhancing Training to Build Capacity” at the seat of the African Union, Addis Ababa from April 11-13, 2017. Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “It is a profound honour for all of us at Ethiopian Airlines to host the ICAO Global Aviation Training and TRAINAIR PLUS Symposium which brings major industry players together, to exchange best practices and experiences in human resources development and aviation training, and more specifically on the TRAINAIR PLUS Program for the advancement of the Global aviation. I believe this symposium will also be an opportunity for us to showcase our hospitality, the state-of-the-art Aviation Training facilities at our Aviation Academy and the key role Ethiopian is playing in the development of the African Aviation industry. “While attending the symposium in this beautiful country, I would like to remind you all that you are coming back home because this is the land where it all began which is the land of Lucy, the 3.2 million-years-old Grandmother of humanity and the most complete skeleton of an early human ancestor ever discovered. Wishing you all a successful deliberation in the symposium, I recommend you to visit Lalibela; the beautiful rock-hewn churches well known throughout the world or Axum; the single granite stone of the Axum Obelisk or others of the mesmerizing tourist sites in the country if you may wish to take a side trip. Whatever your choice, I’m sure you will enjoy the unparalleled hospitality and the friendly people of, Ethiopia.” An estimated 400-500 expected participants will be taking part in the Symposium, including the ICAO council President and …

Africa’s largest airline group Ethiopian Airlines will begin the first five months of the new year with a rapid network expansion plan to launch seven new destinations from February to June 2017. They envisage to reach 120 international destinations worldwide by 2025. The new destinations from February to June, will launch new service to Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Conakry (Guinea), Oslo (Norway), Chengdu (China), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Singapore (Singapore). With the addition of these stations, Ethiopian will have service from Addis Ababa to 98 different international cities located across the world and just 22 to reach their goal of 120. Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam, said: “Africa’s share of the Global Aviation is the smallest which is only around 3%. As the largest airline group in the continent, we are highly concerned on the low base of air connectivity in the continent and we are setting record expansion to enable Africans enjoy safe, reliable and economical air connectivity both within the continent and between the continent and the rest of the world. Looking beyond the current economic slowdown especially in the oil export dependent economies of Africa, we firmly believe that the continent will become the magnet for foreign direct investment, trade and tourism, which are the engines of air travel growth and in turn efficient air connectivity also drives socio economic development and we are happy to contribute our share in the 21st Century African Transformation. In the just ended calendar year alone, new flights to Moroni (Comoros), WindHoek (Namibia) and Newark (United States) were launched, as well as three cities in Ethiopia: Hawassa, Kebridahar and Dembidolo. Ethiopian is one of the fastest growing airlines in the …