ETW Staff – Mumbai
Ethiopian Airlines has finalised preparations to start double daily flights to Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport starting March 2015. The airline has been providing air service to Mumbai for over 43 years with the launch of its first flight in December 1971. The airline presently has daily flights to Mumbai and New Delhi. Both daily flights to Mumbai will be operated with the B787 Dreamliner aircraft, which offers passengers on-board, higher level of cabin air humidity greatly reducing fatigue, high ceiling, the latest in-flight entertainment system and much reduced noise.
With the double daily flights to Mumbai, Ethiopian Airlines aim to provide optimal connectivity options for passengers travelling between India and its 49 destinations in Africa. Speaking on this expansion, Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO, Ethiopian Airlines Group stated, “We are very bullish on the prospects of the Africa-India market. By increasing our frequency to double daily to Mumbai and expanding our codeshare agreement with Air India, fellow Star Alliance partner with the inclusion of domestic points in India and major destinations in Africa, we aim to become the airline of choice for travel between Africa and India by offering seamless and convenient connections through our main hub in Addis Ababa. Going forward, we plan to increase our current frequency to New Delhi and start operations to additional destinations in southern India.” Africa-India traffic is witnessing a significant rise owing to the economic growth of the two regions and their increasing trade, investment and tourism ties in addition to the travel demand of the large Indian community in various African countries.
Ethiopian Airlines is a pan-African global carrier serving 84 international destinations across five continents and operating the youngest fleet in Africa with less than seven years average, including the B737 Next Generation with Sky Interior to African points, the B787 Dreamliners, the B777-200LRs, the longest range commercial aircraft in activity and the B777-300 ER on its mid and long haul routes.