Ethiopian Airlines said it will commence new services to Enugu in few weeks time. If achieved, the airline will become the first international carrier to fly to the city.

Ethiopian will also increase its five weekly flights to Abuja to daily service, the airline has announced.

The Airline 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 will operate four times a week to Enugu, its 76th destination. Ethiopian, an indigenous and truly Pan African airline, is one of the oldest carriers flying to Nigeria and has been serving the country since 1960 strengthening trade, cultural and tourism ties between Nigeria and the rest of the world.

According to the airline, passengers from Enugu will have direct flight connections to many destinations in Africa, Middle East, Asia, South America and Europe with the youngest and modern fleet in the continent and enjoy the usual Ethiopian hospitality.

“Our flight to Enugu is another exciting step towards enhancing our commitment to the needs of our travelling publics. Nigeria has always been and continues to be one of our important destinations in West Africa. We are continually improving our products and services to meet our customers’ expectations. We thank the people and the government of Nigeria for their continued support in making this new service to Enugu possible,” said Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian.

Passengers from the airline’s three gateways in Nigeria – Lagos, Abuja and Enugu – now have the opportunity to fly to destinations throughout the Ethiopian network, including Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, London, Toronto, Beijing, Beirut, Dubai, Mumbai, and Nairobi.

Ethiopian commands the lion share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 75 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 and a member of Star Alliance since 2011 registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years compete favourably well with others on international markets.

“Air freight would make this possible. Access to global markets means that Nigerian farmers would have greater demand for their output and perhaps, better prices.

“That is also expected to stimulate more agricultural production, which would in turn, boost the rural economy in the country.  ‘There would be competition by farmers to produce more to feed the foreign and domestic market, unlike what you have now’”.

He maintained that there are a lot of works to be done like support services such as cold storage containers will have to be provided at the airports.

Specialised transportation for these perishables also have to be provided. And these services may have to be provided by the private sector, which is expected to buy into the new vision of the Aviation Ministry to transform Nigerian Aviation Industry.

The Aviation Minister has hosted a number of international road shows aimed at creating awareness in the international community about the possibilities of the country.

The Aviation Ministry and parastatals are also in discussions with various chambers of Commerce and Farmers cooperatives round the country, to sensitize them to the possibilities available under the country’s new air cargo programme and to explore various options for collaboration to achieve the objectives of marketing Nigeria’s perishable agricultural produce to the world.

“With 13 designated air cargo airports spread around the country, farmers would not have to haul their produce over long distances by road, in order to find a market for them.

“For example, take the Enugu Airport. Cashew farmers from neighbouring areas would only have to get their produce to the airport, from where these can be freight to different markets both in and outside the country,” he said.

Available statistics indicate that about 70 per cent of agricultural produce especially perishables such as fruits and tomatoes are wasted while trying to get them to several markets round the country.

Air freight could dramatically reduce this wastage, and put more money back into the hands of Nigerian farmers once the current restructuring, reorganization and provision of cargo handling facilities been undertaken currently is in place.