Ethiopian Airlines to launch nonstop flight to Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Ethiopian Airlines is launching three-times-weekly service from Addis Ababa to Dammam, the capital of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, starting on February 12.

According to a press release Ethiopian sent to ENA on Friday, Dammam will be its 8th destination in the Middle East and its 64th worldwide.

Ethiopian CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam said the new flight to Dammam provides opportunities for business people as well as tourists to explore its investment and leisure potentials.

Dammam is a large metropolitan and industrial area that lies on a peninsula stretching out into the Persian Gulf. It is a major seaport, exporting and importing a wide variety of goods and commodities. It is a center for the oil and gas industry and is the commercial center for eastern Saudi Arabia.

Dammam is also well known for its tourist attractions such as the Coastal Sports Center, Half Moon Beech, King Fahd Park and Alkhleej Makarim Village where tourists can engage in mountain climbing, hiking, skiing or surfing.

Mr Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines says, ‘The new flight services to Dammam provide opportunities for business people as well as tourists to explore Dammam’s investment and leisure potentials.’ Dammam will be Ethiopian’s 8th destination in the Middle East and its 64th worldwide. The new flight schedule will be as follows:

With this new flight, Dammam will be connected to dozens of cities in Africa via Ethiopian’s hub at Addis Ababa. Convenient connections will be available to and from cities such as Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos, Accra, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe and Dakar.

Saudi Arabia is the oldest destination in the region for Ethiopian Airlines next to Yemen, and is the only country where the airline flies to three points in one country in that region. Ethiopian currently provides services to Jeddah and Riyadh.

As this route commences, Ethiopian announces a promotional fare from Addis Ababa to Dammam starting from USD 360 for a round trip ticket, which is valid for travel until 30 November 2012.

Ethiopian airlines Receives Its First of 10 Boeing 737-800s aircraft

Ethiopian Airlines is pleased to announce that it has received its first next-generation Boeing 737-800 with the new Boeing Sky Interior on 22 November 2011. This is the first 737-800 with Boeing Sky Interior of ten to be delivered over the next four years.

"In line with our Vision 2025 strategic road map and our fleet modernization and expansion project, we are investing heavily in technologically advanced and modern airplanes,” said Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. “This new airplane will not only benefit Ethiopian because of its unmatched operating costs, but will also offer more comfort to our passengers. Moreover, these new aircraft generate far fewer carbon emissions than older aircraft, minimizing our carbon footprint. Our goal is to be the most environmentally friendly airline in Africa, and the new 737-800 is in line with this goal."

The new aircraft will be initially deployed on Ethiopian’s daily flight to Dar es Salaam during the day and Ethiopian’s daily flight to Riyadh at night.

The Boeing Sky Interior introduces new cove lighting and curving architecture that create a distinctive entry way. Passengers will enjoy a more open cabin and a soft blue sky overhead simulated by light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, which could easily be controlled on a touch screen control board.

The new interior also brings new, modern, sculpted sidewalls and window reveals to draw passengers’ eyes to the view outside the window. The aircraft has new features such as modern overhead bins, (the first for a Boeing narrow body aircraft), advanced aerodynamics and modern passenger service unit (PSU). Outfitted with Boeing Sky Interior, the new 737-800NG has maximum reliability, efficiency, passenger appeal and optimized engine design that adds up extra comfort and style to passengers.

"Ethiopian Airlines continues to prove its leadership and forward thinking in aviation throughout Africa," said Van Rex Gallard, vice president of Sales for Africa, Latin America and Caribbean for Boeing Commercial Airplanes."By making these investments in their fleet, Ethiopian Airlines is positioning itself to continue to lead aviation in Africa and becoming a leader across the globe."

Ethiopian Airlines currently operates five brand new 777-200LRs and it is the first African airline to order the Boeing 787 Dreamliner with an order for 10. Ethiopian Airlines operates an all-Boeing fleet of 737, 757, 767 and 777 airplanes in passenger service and a fleet of 757s, MD11s and 747s in cargo operations.

ET to Fully Integrate With the Stars in a Month

The Ethiopian Airlines is going to be fully integrated into Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance, in October. The process took over a year and 6.9 million dollars which has not been paid in full yet.

The airlines had to fulfil 83 criteria, including IT compliance, to earn full membership of the alliance.
Ethiopian is the third African airline to join the Star Alliance after South African Air (SAA) and Egypt Air.

Ethiopian uses SABER booking system, which needed to be connected with the central system of the Star Alliance headquarters, and with those of the 29 member carriers.

Some of the advantages of joining Star Alliance for Ethiopian is using the alliance’s network for selling seats on the same flights, giving passengers more departure times to choose from on a given route and easier connections and transfers between flights.

Requirements of Star Alliance membership include displaying the alliance’s logo and Ethiopia has set aside a B767 for that purpose. The B767 flies to destinations in Africa, Asia and Europe where most members of the alliance are located.

Star Alliance was founded in 1997 by five of the world's leading airlines: Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International and United Airlines.  Collectively its carriers make 21,200 daily flights to 1,185 destinations in 185 countries.

Ethiopian plane crash report still pending

An official report on the Ethiopian Airlines crash off Beirut that claimed 90 lives is due to appear later this year, nearly 22 months after the disaster took place.

Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said Wednesday a final report on the circumstances of the crash, minutes after taking off from Rafik Hariri International Airport in January 2010, would soon be released.

“We have all the information. And we’re quite sure it’s accurate,” Aridi said during a news conference at the airport, adding that his ministry would receive the joint investigation committee’s final draft on Aug. 10.

After that, he explained, the committee would have a period of 60 days to issue a final report.

“We cannot unilaterally announce the content as we are only a part of the investigation committee,” Aridi said, warning that “if any [further] delay happens … we will present the results.”

The joint investigation committee, managed by Lebanon’s Civil Aviation Authority, is composed of Lebanese and Ethiopian representatives, along with individuals representing Boeing, the plane’s manufacturer.

But well-informed sources told The Daily Star that Aridi had been informed by a member of the investigation committee that the final report would not be finalized before “at least one month, if not more.”

The plane crashed into the Mediterranean less than four minutes after takeoff, after performing two maneuvers ordered by Beirut’s Air Traffic Control team. All 90 people aboard were killed.

Data contained in flight recorders retrieved from the crash site show how the aircraft turned slightly immediately after leaving runway 21, before being instructed to bank reasonably hard to its left.

It was during this move that the plane got into trouble, plunging 8,000 feet (2,432 meters) before disappearing from radar screens.

A statement aiming at presenting the different stages of the investigation’s advancement since Feb. 10 – when the last report was issued – was released during the conference.

The report said the investigation committee had recently received three reports on the analysis of the trim tab part of the plane’s rear, in an operation conducted in cooperation with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, and were expecting the final report to be release Aug. 10.

The NTBS also analyzed black spots found near the hot air exits of the auxiliary power unit, and discovered the spots weren’t caused by fire or hot temperature but oil.

The report also stated that the French Bureau of Investigations and Analysis for Civil Aviation’s Safety, working in cooperation with Boeing, were unable to recover a damaged segment on one of the retrieved five cockpit voice recorders.

During a news conference in February, Aridi had already said he knew the causes of the crash, but was waiting for an agreement between the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority, Ethiopian Airlines and Boeing to be finalized before releasing the ministry’s final report.

At the time, he said a full analysis into the causes behind flight ET409’s crash would be available before the end of July.

The minister said he wanted “to assure people that our commitment [to finding out exactly what happened] will not be abandoned.”

“We call on the Lebanese to be patient and to avoid drawing conclusions,” he added.