The managing director International services of Ethiopian Airlines, Esayas WoldeMariam Hailu has disclosed that the airline has the highest number of passengers in the continent from Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview with Journalists at the corporate headquarters of the airline in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Esayas stated that not all the routes in Africa are profitable even though they have network contributions.
In his words: “All the routes in Nigeria are loss making, but they have network contributions because we have the highest number of passengers from the continent from Nigeria, off course from the huge population, it has network contribution, so whatever you loose from here, you subsidise with others, so we serve the entire continent as one piece.”
While reiterating the importance of Maintenance Repairs and Overhaul, Esayas said aviation without MRO is incomplete.
The managing director International services of Ethiopian Airlines added that the airline is always looking forward to a mutually beneficial and win win relationship with Nigeria for the future.
He disclosed that a lot of Nigerian PhD holders are teaching in over 40 Ethiopian universities, getting their Doctorate, Professorship in the country.
Esayas lamented the domination of African skies by foreign carriers with The continents airline controlling only 20percent of the market shares.
He said the airline is ready to carry Nigerian fruits, and other produce to far East Asia, Europe and other parts of the world if proper arrangement is made and supplies are guaranteed.
The managing director International services of Ethiopian Airlines observed that Nigeria’s greatest assets is her human resources and not necessarily her natural resources.
He listed strict corporate governance, right size of fleet, non interference by government among other as the airline’s propelling factors.
According to him: As a Pan-African Airline, serving our beloved continent Africa has always been a source of pride for Ethiopian Airlines.
With this commitment, Ethiopian has been able to create a missing link; availing easy movement of Africans from one corner to the other.
He explained that liberalization of air transport has been proved to be the best way to bring about high traffic volume, economic growth, free and fair market competition among carriers.
Since this policy is advisable and very useful, governments are not encouraged to put restrictions on this as liberalization helps carriers to optimize networks with in the cross continental market, Esayas said.
