Four airports joined its passenger network in May and June.
SUMMARY
- Ethiopian Airlines has started passenger flights to Maun, its second destination in Botswana.
- It came shortly after Freetown and Axum services lifted off, with Nekemte coming soon.
- Internationally, Johannesburg and Entebbe have the most flights in Africa.
Ethiopian Airlines now serves 81 African airports from its growing Addis Ababa hub. It launched Freetown flights on May 31, while Maun’s service began on the day I’m researching and writing this article. Both international destinations are brand-new to its network.
On June 9, it returned to the Ethiopian city of Axum, which it last served in 2021. Nekemte, a new airport in the country, is included in the figures. Ethiopian expects to begin flying there on June 17.
In June 2019, 74 African airports saw Ethiopian’s passenger aircraft, growing to 75 in June 2023.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Hello, Maun!
Ethiopian began flying to Maun, Botswana’s tourist capital and one of the country’s most populous cities, on June 10. The route runs three times weekly using the 160-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8. The first rotation deployed a 6.0-year-old ET-AVM delivered to the carrier in June 2018.
The route is scheduled as follows, with all times local. Like many of Ethiopian’s African services, a stop is involved. Maun is tagged with Ndola; the Zambian city has been part of the airline’s network since 2013. The airline does not have fifth-freedom traffic rights between Maun and Ndola.
- Addis Ababa to Maun: ET833, 08:30-12:40 (5h 10m)
- Maun to Ndola: ET833, 13:30-15:30 (2h 0m)
- Ndola to Addis Ababa: ET833, 16:20-21:25 (4h 5m)
Image: Flightradar24
London is the largest market
As always, the timings – an early departure from Addis and a late arrival back home – are to maximize two-way connections. Analysis of booking data shows that nearly all of Maun’s long-haul demand comes from Europe. However, the numbers are low; hence, there are only three weekly flights on low-capacity equipment and the tag-on.
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These were the places where most of the carrier’s passengers went last year.
London is the largest market, but it only had around 7,000 Maun passengers last year. Frankfurt was next, followed by Zurich (which joined Ethiopia’s network in 2022), Paris, and Amsterdam.
While Ethiopian does not serve Amsterdam, the carrier’s Chief Commercial Officer, Lemma Yadecha Gudeta, told me last year that the Dutch airport would be served again. As usual, no timeframe was stated.
Image: OAG
Top international African network
Of Ethiopian’s 81-strong African passenger destinations from Addis Ababa, 60 are international (i.e., not in Ethiopia).
They are in 39 countries. It serves four cities in Nigeria and Somalia, more than anywhere else. Three are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Nine countries have two destinations (now including Botswana), and 25 have one.
Photo: South.Jets | Flickr
It has a median daily service from Addis Ababa to its 60 international African airports. In the week starting June 16, Johannesburg and Entebbe are served the most (four daily), followed by Kigali (18 weekly). A further 47 destinations have between a daily and double daily service.
The 10 airports with sub-daily flights are Beira (five weekly), Blantyre (five weekly), Bangui (five weekly), Bulawayo (five weekly), Malabo (five weekly), Nosy Be (five weekly), Enugu (four weekly), Freetown (three weekly), Maun (three weekly), and finally Bosaso (twice-weekly