Ethiopian Airlines to start flights to New York’s JFK International Airport

Ethiopian News, Tigrai Online, January 20, 2015

Ethiopian Airlines, the largest and most profitable airline in Africa, is pleased to announce that preparations are being finalized to launch service to New York’s JFK airport by the end of June.

Ethiopian suspended flights to Newark in 2004 to provide nonstop service from Washington to Addis Ababa, with connections to its network in East, Central and Southern Africa. Ethiopian’s network will once again provide a vital link between New York and Africa with this new service.

Flights from Addis Ababa to JFK will depart Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings, and will return from JFK to Addis Ababa the same evening. Flights will make an intermediate stop in Lomé, home base for Ethiopian Airline’s partner ASKY Airlines, in both directions.

Passengers from New York will enjoy faster flight options to a variety of cities with this new flight.

There will be three weekly one-stop flights between New York and Addis Ababa, headquarters of the African Union and capital of one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

There will be connectivity beyond Addis Ababa to and from major economic and tourist destinations in East, Southern and Central Africa and the Middle East, including Nairobi, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Kigali, Khartoum, Jeddah, and Riyadh.

There will be connectivity between New York and many cities in West Africa with Ethiopian’s partner ASKY Airlines, via Lomé, including Lagos, Abidjan, Dakar, Libreville, Douala, N’djamena, Kinshasa, Bamako, Conakry, Ouagadougou, and Niamey.

Ethiopian will be deploying the most modern aircraft in the world on this flight, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which not only offers unparalleled onboard comfort to passengers, but is also the world’s most environmentally friendly aircraft with its lower fuel usage and noise emissions. Ethiopian’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner is configured with 24 business class and 246 economy seats, all of which are equipped with on-demand video monitors featuring a variety of entertainment options.

Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked, “We are thrilled to resume our service to New York, our fourth destination in the Americas. New York is one of the world's most economically powerful cities and including it in our ever expanding network will play a critical role in the expansion of trade, tourism and investment between the fast growing continent of Africa and the United States. I would like to thank all who strived hard to make the route possible.”

Ethiopian is a global, as well as a Pan-African, carrier serving more than 92 international destinations across 5 continents and operating the youngest fleet in Africa with less than the industry average age of 5 years. The airline is expanding to new destinations, and in the past year has introduced service to Tokyo, Manila, Dublin, Los Angeles, Cape Town, Durban, Gaborone, Yaoundé, and Goma.

About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its seven decades of operations, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.

Ethiopian commands the lion share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 92 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, Bombardier Q-400 double cabin with an average fleet age of five years. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft.

Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centers: Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.

For more information about this press release, please contact:

Mrs. Hanna Atnafu

Manager Corporate Communications

Ethiopian Airlines Tel: (251-1) 517-89-07/656/165/913/529 publicrelations@ethiopianairlines.com www.ethiopianairlines.com www.facebook.com/ethiopianairlines www.twitter.com/flyethiopian