Ethiopian Airlines has a plan to launch daily flights to Dhaka with its Boeing Dreamliner 787
Ethiopian Airlines has decided to commence flights between Addis Ababa and Dhaka from March 8, 2024 with Bangladesh and Ethiopia signing an air service agreement (ASA) recently to establish a direct air link.
Shohag Hossain
‘‘The airline has chosen March 8, the International Women’s Day, to commence the Addis Ababa-Dhaka-Addis Ababa direct flight. Initially, it will operate five weekly flights,’’ Shohag Hossain, Managing Director of Rhythm Group, the airline’s General Sales Agent (GSA) in Bangladesh, was quoted by local media.
Hossain said the Ethiopian transport minister and Ethiopian Airlines group CEO will visit Bangladesh on boarding the inaugural flight of the African airline giant.
‘‘The route will offer various connecting flights in compatible fare to the Bangladeshi expatriates as the airline, the biggest network in Africa, connects all major cities of Europe and North America from Addis Ababa, the base of the Ethiopian airlines,’’ he said.
The reports add that Ethiopian Airlines which operates to 10 destinations in the United States has a plan to launch daily flights to Dhaka with its Boeing Dreamliner 787.
After a series of consultations in line with the diplomatic efforts of the two countries, the civil aviation authorities of Ethiopia and Bangladesh signed the air service agreement in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on December 6.
The deal was inked during the ICAO Air Services Negotiation Event 2023 (ICAN2023), the largest event related to aviation negotiations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on December 3-7 in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Chairman Air Vice Marshal Mafidur Rahman led a five-member delegation at the event.
Ethiopia’s flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines has been operating freight flights through third-world countries for 31 years from Bangladesh.
Noting that currently, the Ethiopian airline operates three weekly non-scheduled freighter flights offline to and from Dhaka, Shohag said the ASA will also allow commencing scheduled direct freighter flights to and from Bangladesh.
Ethiopian Airlines, with 147 aircraft, is Africa’s largest airline in terms of carrying passengers, destinations, fleet size, and revenue while it is ranked as the world’s fourth-largest airline by the number of countries served.
