Ethiopian voted 2017 Middle East and Africa Airline of the Year by Airline Economics magazine

PRESS OFFICE: Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines Group, the largest airline group in Africa, is pleased to announce that it has been recognised as Middle East and Africa Airline of the Year 2017 by Airline Economics, the largest aviation finance and leasing print publication in the world, at a Gala Dinner held in Dubai on October 3, 2017.

Winners in the Middle East & Africa Aviation 100 Awards Category have been chosen among the airlines in the Middle East and Africa through customer survey conducted by Airline Economics Magazine. Ethiopian outperformed major airlines in the Middle East and Africa to win this prestigious award.

Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked; “It is a tremendous honour to be recognised as Airline of the Year and to stand out from among the major Middle East and African carriers thru a vote of the readers of one of the most renowned aviation magazines, Airline Economics. Although I am very happy by the several awards and recognitions that we have been receiving from all corners of the world, I am particularly inspired by this award since our remarkable success and fast growth in all aspects of our business has gradually started to position us in a leadership position outside the continent of Africa. I thank the leaders and the team at Airline Economics for the recognition.

“Likewise, I would like to thank our valued customers for their continued vote of confidence and support. I also thank our strong team of more than 12,000 colleagues for their special dedication and commitment to our beloved airline and our customers. We are working together to build one of the best Global Aviation Group by scaling up the unmatched and seamless connectivity of network between the Continent of Africa and the rest of the world with more than 100 international destinations operated by the most modern and less than 5 years old airplanes on average. Ethiopian Airlines Group is among the very few airlines in the world which has shown leadership in both of the most technologically advanced airplanes in the world today which are the B-787 Dream liners and the Airbus A-350s’.”

Philip Tozer-Pennington, Managing Director of Airline Economics and Aviation News Ltd, while presenting the
awards on the night, said; “Ethiopian Airlines is an African and an international airline success story. The airline
is the clear winner of the industry vote for the best performing airline in the MEA region over the past 12 months.
I wish to congratulate Ethiopian Airlines on this remarkable success.”

Ethiopian is multi award winning airline: SKYTRAX World Airline Award for Best Airline in Africa, Best Airline Staff in Africa; AFRAA- Best Airline in Africa – 5 years in a row, Best Airline to Africa”, for a second year in a row, “Best Airline in Africa” by US Premier Traveler magazine; Bombardier’s Airline Reliability Performance Award for the 6th Year in a Row; Passenger Choice Awards for “Best Airline in Africa for the third time in a row; Outstanding Food Service by a Carrier in Africa by Pax International Magazine.


About Ethiopian

Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing airline in Africa. In its seven decades of operation, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.

Ethiopian commands the lion’s share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as Airbus A350, Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200 Freighter, and Bombardier Q-400 double cabin.   Ethiopian was the first airline in Africa to own and operate each of these aircraft.

Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centers:

Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average annual growth of 25% in the past seven years.

For more information about this press release, please contact:

Mrs Hanna Atnafu
Manager Corporate Communications
Ethiopian Airlines
Tel: (251-1) 517-89-07/656/165/913/529
[email protected]

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