Addis Ababa, October 2, 2019 (FBC) – The Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) has said it carried more than 12.5 million passengers last Ethiopian fiscal year which ended July 7.
Despite facing its biggest challenges in years, the airlines remains profitable, said Tewolde Gebremariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian.
All 157 people were killed when an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after takeoff last March from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
The number of passengers who uses Ethiopian continues to increase, said the CEO in an exclusive interview with FBC.
Reuters reported that Ethiopian’s operating revenue jumped nearly 30% in the year to July 31. Operating revenue jumped by 28.6% year on year to 114.6 billion birr ($3.9 billion), it said.
However, a sharp increase in jet fuel price at the global market slightly affected the profitability of the airlines, Tewolde told FBC.
The CEO said more works will be undertaken in this Ethiopian fiscal year to increase the global comparativeness of the airlines.
He said five new airports will be built in different parts of the country, namely Debre Markos, Metu, Borena, Yabello and Mizan Aman.
He said the airlines will invest more than 5 billion birr this fiscal year alone, including for expansion projects.
According to the CEO, the company will also buy more than 20 modern aircrafts in the future.
Ethiopian commands the lion’s share of the Pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 120 international passenger and cargo destinations across five continents.