Ethiopian Airlines finally to take off to Istanbul on April 1

Mar 20, 2019: Ethiopian Airlines has finally received relevant approvals for operating flights between Addis Ababa and Istanbul, which is set to commence its operation from April 1, 2019. Istanbul marks Ethiopian's 19th destination in Europe.

Regarding the upcoming services, group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked, "It gives us great pleasure to launch flights to Istanbul, connecting Europe's largest city to the over 60 African destinations we serve, through our hub Addis Ababa. Turkey being one of the fastest growing countries among the emerging economies, availability of seamless connectivity options will facilitate the channelling of investors and enhance business ties between the two regions. As we forge ahead on the path of growth and success as envisioned in Vision 2025, we will keep opening new routes to all corners of the world bringing Africa ever closer to the rest of the world."

The airline is presently serving 119 international destinations across five continents with average fleet age of five years, using Airbus A350, B787 and B777 aircraft for its intercontinental flights.

The new Istanbul service will also bring the number of passenger flights the airline operates to European cities to 57 per week.

Meanwhile, it was also confirmed that from June 17, Ethiopian Airlines will add an extra flight on the Addis Ababa - Seoul - Tokyo route.