Ethiopian Airlines said it will restructure its United States of America (USA) network with new destinations, more frequencies and shifting gateways as of the summer of 2019. The airline said the new US network is aimed at giving passengers travelling between the US and all over Africa the best possible connectivity and shortest routes, whether they are traveling for leisure, business or government work.
Accordingly, Washington D.C. flights would be increased from current daily to ten weekly flights.
The new additional three flights would pass through Abidjan departing from Addis Ababa in the morning and arriving in Washington D.C. in the evening. The current three weekly flights to Chicago would be increased to five weekly flights. From the planned daily flights to New York, four will be served via Lomé to Newark and three will be via Abidjan to JFK airport. Lastly, there will be a new gateway, Houston, which will replace Los Angeles, and would be served three times per week via West Africa.
Ethiopia said the new Houston flights would be the only connection between Houston and Africa and would facilitate the travel of the huge African community in the Houston area, and oil and other companies doing business in the continent. Flights will be served with latest technology aircraft, the Boeing 787, which offers unparalleled on-board comfort.
Regarding the route restructuring, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked, “The U.S. is among our most important markets owing to the presence of a large African community and growing business and tourism ties with Africa.”
