Addis Ababa — Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing and the most profitable African airline, won the 2013 "African Airline of the Year Award" from the African Airlines Association at its 45th Annual General Assembly meeting held between 25 and 26 November 2013, in Mombasa, Kenya.
Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, received the award from Mr. Tony Tyler, Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of IATA in the presence of over 370 airline executives from 55 African countries, aircraft manufacturers, service providers and other aviation stakeholders. Ethiopian was recognized by the African Airlines Association for its global standard service, fast expanding network and continuous profitability.
"As a truly indigenous African airline owned, managed and operated by Africans, it is a special honor for us to receive this prestigious award from our association and fellow African sisterly airlines. The award is a tribute to our 7,000+ employees, who are the main reason behind our success and who are working very hard every day to make Ethiopian shine high in the sky.
It is also a recognition of the successful implementation of our 15 year strategic roadmap, Vision 2025, now in its fourth year. We are meeting and even exceeding the ambitious network and fleet expansion, and revenue and passenger growth targets of our Vision 2025.
As of 1 October 2013, we have transformed the airline into an aviation group, which will have, in addition to our passenger and cargo businesses, profit centers such Ethiopian MRO, Ethiopian Academy, Ethiopian Ground Services and Ethiopian In-Flight Catering. Going forward these aviation services will give us diversified revenue streams, enable us to continue on our fast, profitable and sustainable growth trajectory, and attain our objective of generating 10 billion dollars in annual revenue by 2025.
Today, Ethiopian has the youngest and most modern fleet in Africa and an extensive global network covering practically all sub-Saharan Africa and five continents. With our multiple hub strategy, thru our partner African airlines, ASKY in West Africa and soon Malawi Airlines in Southern Africa, we are more than ever bringing Africa together and closer to the world. This is facilitating the flow of investment, tourism and trade in Africa and contributing to the rise of our great continent", said Tewolde Gebremariam, Ethiopian Airlines Group, CEO.
Ethiopian has also won in 2013 the SKYTRAX award for "Best Airline Staff Service in Africa" and the Passengers Choice Award for "Best Airline in Africa".
About Ethiopian
Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its operations in the past close to seven decades, 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 76 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200LR Freighter and Bombardier Q-400 with double cabin. 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.
