Ethiopian Airlines Group whose first scheduled flight took place to Cairo via Asmara in Douglas C-47 Skytrain on April 8, 1946, once again received a meritorious award in Singapore. This year, Ethiopian Airlines, the largest cargo operator and logistics center in Africa snagged both Industry and Customer Choice Award for the Rising Star Carrier of the Year at the Payload Asia Awards 2017 gala dinner and awards ceremony, held at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, Singapore. Other carriers picking up awards included: All Nippon Airways, Singapore Airlines Cargo, Swiss WorldCargo, United Cargo, VietJet Air Cargo, AirAsia Cargo, Atlas Air and Volga-Dnepr Airlines.
Payload Asia magazine, a respected voice of the air cargo industry, honours excellence in the air cargo industry with more than 90 nominations competing for 20 awards categories and more than 25,000 online votes in the Customer Choice Awards; with the results ultimately audited by an independent auditing firm, Alpes Assurance.
Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked:
We are glad that Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services is recognized as The Rising Star Carrier of the Year for the third year in a row. As one of the strategic business units under the Ethiopian Airlines Group, Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services has been one of the success stories in the effective implementation of our ambitious plan set in our long-term strategic road map, Vision 2025: currently operating in a state of the art cargo terminal, capable of accommodating 1 million tons per annum, flying to 44 global freighter destinations using the most modern fleet, B777 freighter. Supporting export of perishables and import of high value goods of the booming Ethiopian Economy and the entire African continent, Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services is playing a vital roles in the growth of trade, investment and economic integration.
Infrastructure development being one of the four pillars of our fast, profitable and sustainable growth strategic roadmap, Vision 2025, we have embarked building the second phase, Cargo Terminal III, which will add another 600,000 tones annual capacity and position Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services among the world’s largest cargo terminals equivalent to cargo terminals in Amsterdam Schiphol, Singapore Changi, or Hong Kong. Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate our Cargo team for the job well done and encourage them to achieve more success”.
Ethiopian is multi award winning airline: Middle East and Africa Airline of the Year by Airline Economics Magazine , SKYTRAX World Airline Award for Best Airline in Africa, Best Airline Staff in Africa; AFRAA- Best Airline in Africa – 5 years in a row, Best Airline to Africa”, for a second year in a row, “Best Airline in Africa” by US Premier Traveler magazine; Bombardier’s Airline Reliability Performance Award for the 6th Year in a Row; Passenger Choice Awards for “Best Airline in Africa for the third time in a row; Outstanding Food Service by a Carrier in Africa by Pax International Magazine.
Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its seventy plus years of operation, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivaled in efficiency and operational success.
Ethiopian commands the lion’s share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 100 international passenger and cargo destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as Airbus A350, Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, Bombardier Q-400 double cabin with an average fleet age of five years. 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 Express & Ancillary Services; Ethiopian International Services; Ethiopian Cargo Services; Ethiopian MRO Services; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; ET In-flight Catering; and Ethiopian Ground Services. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.
Victor Gotevbe is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of Diplomatic Watch. He is the Managing Director of Conduit Communications Limited.
