Emirates set to start flights to Addis Ababa

Dubai: Emirates, one of the world's fastest growing international airlines, yesterday re-affirmed its commitment to East Africa by announcing the launch of services to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

Effective March 27, Emirates will start flying to Addis Ababa with three flights a week. Subsequently Emirates' Dubai-Addis Ababa service will be enhanced to daily operations from December 1, 2006.

Emirates currently serves East Africa with double-daily flights to Nairobi and daily flights to Entebbe and Dar-Es-Salaam. With the addition of Addis Ababa, Emirates' East Africa network will be boosted to four destinations served by 31 flights per week.

To Addis Ababa, Emirates will operate its Airbus A330-200 aircraft equipped with 12, 42 and 183 seats in First, Business and Economy class, and a belly-hold cargo capacity of 17 tonnes.

Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman of Emirates Group, said: "I am pleased to announce yet another destination on Emirates' rapidly expanding network.

"Our 78-strong destination network will see the addition of several new gateways in 2006 including Abidjan and Addis Ababa in Africa; Thiruvananthapuram and Calcutta in the Indian Sub-continent; Hamburg in Europe; and Nagoya and Beijing in the Far East."

He added: "Trade between Dubai and East Africa, a long-standing trade partner of the UAE, has registered a steady growth over the last few years. Several countries in the East African region have been increasingly turning to the UAE for procurement of their consumer and capital goods. I am confident that the Emirates service between Dubai and Addis Ababa will add further momentum to this trade process."