Ethiopian Airlines Marks its 75th Anniversary
ADDIS ABABA- Ethiopian Airlines Group, the largest Pan-African aviation group, celebrates its 75th anniversary today, April 8, 2021.
Ethiopian made its maiden international flight on April 8, 1946 to Cairo.
Since then, the Airline overcame the ups and downs of the aviation industry and the challenges unique to Africa to become Africa’s largest, most profitable and award-winning Aviation Group.
Ethiopian kicks off a yearlong celebration under the theme ‘Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence’.
“As we celebrate 75 years of excellence, we take stock of our accomplishments over three quarters of a century,” said Tewolde GebreMariam, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO.
Among the many firsts introduced by the airlines are the first Jet aircraft in Africa, the first East Africa to West Africa scheduled flight, the first airline from the Western Hemisphere to fly to China, the first scheduled service between the capitals of the most populous nations in the world – from New Delhi to Beijing.
It is also the first airline in Africa to introduce the B767, B777-200LR, B787(the Dreamliner) and later on the A350 to Africa.
The airlines have gone through various challenges with the latest one being the pandemic that hit the aviation industry hard.
“Today, our industry faces a serious challenge posed by COVID-19,” Tewolde said.
“The route we chose to overcome this challenge is to tighten our belt, change the way we do business and be agile,” he continued.
“We remain the only commercial airline that hasn’t sought government bailout and didn’t lay off a single employe,” the CEO noted. “I would like to take this opportunity to cement our commitment to sustainable aviation and continue to work with all stakeholders to enhance Africa’s air connectivity,”.
Tewolde has congratulated all Ethiopian families and appreciating all customers othe the airlines “for their strong vote of confidence, their loyalty and support”.
Ethiopian Airlines also attributes its success to the four pillars of its growth strategy.
These pillars are human resource development, modern fleet, infrastructure development and technology.
The airlines and it will continue to focus on these pillars with renewed emphasis on sustainability.
It will also continue partnering with other African airlines and governments to create a robust, competitive airline industry in Africa by sharing its technical and management expertise, according to the Airlines.
