ET retains top spot in Africa

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has retained its dominance in African airspace, transporting 5.2 million passengers and over 500,000MT of cargo in 2020.

The figures, being the highest by an airline in the year of pandemic lockdown, put the carrier in pole position on the continent.

The African Airlines Association’s (AFRAA) has also ranked Ethiopian Airlines first in passenger and cargo traffic for the year.

Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer, Tewolde GebreMariam, said the airline is honoured to continue its leadership position even during the global pandemic crisis that has devastated the aviation industry.

“This is a manifestation of our resilience and agility. We are excited about the role we played in the fight against the pandemic by continuing our much-needed air connectivity within Africa and with the rest of the world without any flight suspension. We are saving lives through air transport of medical supplies and vaccines,” GebreMariam said.

ET topped the list with the highest passenger traffic transported through Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. A total of 5.5 million passengers have been transported through the airport, with ET accounting for a total of 5.2 million.

Ethiopia tops because the airline has the largest number of direct flights within the continent.