By Kingsley Alu
Ethiopian Airlines, the largest Aviation Group and SKYTRAX certified Four Star Global Airline has won the African Airlines Association (AFRAA)’s Airline of the Year Award, for the sixth consecutive year in a row, during the organisation’s 49th Annual General Assembly held last week, in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.
The AFRAA annual awards recognize excellence in service delivery, innovation and competitiveness in airlines, individuals and service providers in the African aviation industry.
Ethiopian Airlines was chosen for its remarkable performance revealed through its exceptional profitability for the financial year ended June 2016, exemplary cooperation with other African carriers, cargo development in the continent, and significant expansion of its route network helping to connect Africa together and with the rest of the world.
In remarkable ecstasy, the CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam said, “As a truly indigenous and home-grown Pan-African airline owned, managed and operated by Africans, we are highly honored to receive this recognition by fellow sisterly airlines in the continent for the 6th consecutive year. I would like to thank AFRAA and the airlines in the continent for recognizing our efforts in nurturing cooperation with other African Airlines and in availing efficient passenger and cargo networks within, to and from the continent, while registering sound financial performance and record profit in 2016. Africa is at the heart of our 15-year fast, profitable and sustainable growth strategic roadmap, Vision 2025”.
The CEO continued, “Already seven years into this strategy, we have surpassed all our goals in passenger number, cargo uplift, fleet size, revenue, profitability and customer service with our recent 4 Star airline recognition by SKYTRAX, the premier customer service rating organization in our industry. We currently serve 55 African cities, the largest network in the continent, connecting them with each other and to more than 100 international destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas using state of the art aircraft offering superior on-board aircraft such as the B787s and A350s”.
Mr. GebreMariam described air transport as an essential and critical public service and a key enabler for socio economic development and integration in the continent. He said African governments should create more conducive environment for the airline industry in the continent so that African carriers are enabled to play their rightful role in ensuring the flow of investments, trade and tourism to the continent. Ethiopian Airline has become a multi-award winning airline.
Earlier this month, SKYTRAX, the most prestigious international air transport standards and quality rating organization, certified Ethiopian as Four Star Airline.
