Nigeria Loses out as Ethiopian Airlines Makes Lomé Hub for W’Africa…
FG, Ethiopia in Talks to Secure Landing Rights for ET
The Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde Gabriel mariam has said that talks are ongoing with the Federal Government of Nigeria to secure landing rights for its Lag os-Houston direct flight operations.
Gabriel mariam disclosed this at a business luncheon organised for the airline by the US Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Houston Airport at Hotel Zaza, Houston, United States.
The airlines made its inaugural flight from Lomé the capital of Togo to Houston last week Monday,
He said previous efforts by the airline to get landing right on its Lagos-Houston direct flight operations from the relevant federal government agencies proved abortive after several failed attempts, forcing it to move its West Africa regional hub to Lome, Togo.
Gabriel mariam said the reason for the direct flight initiative was because of the concentration of Africans in the Diaspora particularly Houston. On the opportunities of flying directly from Nigerian if giving the landing rights, the Group CEO said Houston“is strategic as it has the largest concentration of Nigerians in the United States with a 250,000 population, making it a win-win situation for the airline and Nigerians in the United States through seamless and hassle- free connection.
“The connectivity that we have established is beyond Lome as we have set out to serve our esteemed customers. It is the fastest and shortest in the history of aviation industry.”
On the efforts put in place to serve its Nigerians customers, he said Nigerians would have to fly to Lomé first to join the direct flight to Houston.
He said: ‘We will be using A sky Airline which is another airline where we have 40 percent interest in to convey passengers from Nigeria to Lome, which is a 30- minute flight. From there, we now pick up other passengers to Houston on a direct flight.
“We are still discussing with the Nigerian Government to ensure that we get the landing rights. But in the meantime, Togo will be our hub for the West African market. So our Nigerian passengers should feel free to connect through Lome to the United States.”
Ga brie Mariam said the airline had opened up a lot of spaces in the last two years, hoping that the route would be successful due to the efficiency of time management and infrastructure available at the George Bush International Airport, Houston.
According to him, the United States and Europe seem to be lagging behind in investing in Africa, saying the Africa continent has a lot of investment opportunities and potential in the continent.
He pleaded with stakeholders to explore the potential of Africa by visiting the continent and invest in it. Speaking further, he said investing in Africa has been made seamless by the airline through its flexible inter connectivity to Africa and other parts of the world which is flexible and one of the shortest and fastest in the industry.
Earlier, Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.S., Mr. Fitsum Arega, had said that Ethiopia had been expanding its network in trade and investment, adding that one of the major reasons why Ethiopian Airlines had to fly to Houston was the presence of large Africans in the city.
A rega said that with about 110 million population, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa and one of the fastest growing economy in the world.