Travelport and Ethiopian Airlines Renew Partnership Agreement

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Travelport and Ethiopian Airlines Renew Partnership Agreement

News Release – Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tigrai Online Feb. 01, 2013

Ethiopian Airlines and Travelport, the business services provider to the travel industry, have announced the renewal of their long-term Operator Agreement

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, XX January 2013 – Ethiopian Airlines and Travelport, the business services provider to the travel industry, have announced the renewal of their long-term Operator Agreement, which will see the flag carrier of Ethiopia continue to distribute Travelport’s Galileo products and services in the country.

The exclusive five-year agreement cements the longstanding relationship between Travelport and Ethiopian Airlines and underlines the strategic importance of the East Africa region. According to Travelport figures, Ethiopia represents one of the fastest growing Global Distribution Systems (GDS) industries in Africa, demonstrating a 24% year-on-year growth (2011 to 2012).

As a result of the new deal, Galileo customers in Ethiopia will continue to benefit from Ethiopian regional expertise and Travelport’s latest products and solutions including Travelport Smartpoint – the next generation booking tool, which has already gained great popularity among travel agents across the Middle East and Africa.

“Ethiopian Airlines has always enjoyed a successful partnership with Travelport and we look forward to working closely in launching new products and services for travel agents in the country,” said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian. “Together, Travelport and Ethiopian Airlines will continue to deliver a winning combination of leading technology and regional expertise to benefit the travel agent community in Ethiopia”, he added.

“Since starting our operations in Ethiopia in 1997, Travelport has always maintained a strong position here, and this part of Africa remains a highly significant area of investment for us,” said Mark Meehan, Managing Director for Travelport, Africa. “We now look forward to building on our successful relationship with Ethiopian Airlines, bringing new top of the range Travelport products and services to our customers, and continuing to grow Travelport presence in this important part of the world.

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing airline in Africa, made its maiden international flight to Cairo in 1946 and now the Airline provides dependable services to 70 international destinations spanning four continents.

Ethiopian is proud to be a Star Alliance Member. The Star Alliance network is the leading global airline network offering customers convenient worldwide reach and a smoother travel experience. The Star Alliance network offers more than 21,555 daily flights to 1,356 airports in 193 countries.

Ethiopian is a multi-award winner for its commitment and contributions towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry and in recognition of its distinguished long-haul operations enhanced by the introduction of new routes and products. Recently, Ethiopian won "Airline Reliability Performance Award" from the Bombardier Aerospace; "African Airline of the Year Award" from Air Transport Quarterly Magazine; "Transformation Award 2012" from Planet Africa Network; "International Diamond Prize for Excellence in Quality" from the European Society for Quality Research (ESQR). Also Captain Desta Zeru, Vice-President of Flight Operations, won "Africa Legend of Travel" award from African Travel Quarterly (ATQ) magazine; and Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, won "African CEO of the year" from the African CEO Forum as well as "African Business Leader of the Year" award from the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).

With its acquisition of and firm orders for several new modern fleet, the airline is well positioned to pursue aggressively the implementation of its 2025 strategic plan to become the leading aviation group in Africa.

For more information about this press release, please contact:

Manager PR & Publications

Ethiopian Airlines

Tel: (251-1) 517-84-07

publicrelations@ethiopianairlines.com

About Travelport (www.travelport.com)

Travelport is a broad-based business services company and a leading provider of critical transaction processing solutions to companies operating in the global travel industry.

With a presence in over 170 countries, approximately 3,500 employees and 2011 net revenue of $2.0 billion, Travelport is comprised of the global distribution systems (GDS) business, which includes the Galileo and Worldspan brands and its Airline IT Solutions business. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Travelport is a privately owned company.

Follow Travelport on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Travelport

Travelport Contact

Baiba Upmale

PR Manager, Middle East

Travelport

Tel: +971 4 3614836

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