From humble beginnings just after the second World War to the largest airline in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines now connects more people with more aircraft throughout Africa and beyond than ever before.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET/ETH) is based at Addis Ababa International Airport, the main city and capital of the country. Ethiopian’s hub in Addis Ababa enables a significant route network within Africa, as well as flights to/from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America. According to our database, Addis Ababa Airport has around 1,550 weekly flights, more than 90% of which are operated by Ethiopian.

Beginnings

On December 21st, 1945, almost 80 years ago, Ethiopian Air Lines (EAL) was founded, beginning operations on April 8th, 1946, with its first flight Addis Ababa – Asmara (Eritrea) – Cairo (Egypt) and vice versa provided by Douglas C-47 Skytrains. During its early days, this was its only route, performed on a weekly basis.

Ethiopian Air Lines, managed by the Ethiopian government and Trans World Airlines (TWA), expanded its operations in Northeast Africa and Central Africa, launching its first long-haul routes in the 1950s. With the arrival of the first jet aircraft in the 1960s and 1970s, Ethiopian further developed its network, adding new services to Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

The airline, now renamed Ethiopian Airlines, commenced flights between Addis Ababa and Washington DC on June 23rd, 1998, becoming the first African airline to operate in the Africa-United States market. These services were conducted using Boeing 767-200(ER) aircraft, which had been introduced from the factory in the early 1990s.

Ethiopian Airlines currently operates this route with modern Airbus A350-900s and Airbus A350-1000s. The US capital is part of Ethiopian’s regular schedule in the country, along with Atlanta, Chicago, and New York (Newark and John F Kennedy International Airport).

Fleet and routes

In accordance with our database, the airline has around 145 aircraft in its fleet, most of them based in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian serves 161 passenger destinations from/to the Ethiopian capital, and approximately 70 destinations operated solely by cargo aircraft.

Addis Ababa Airport reached 12 million passengers in 2024, with 10 million international and the remaining two million domestic. Of the total, Ethiopian Airlines comprised over 90%.

Africa

Some are non-stop routes, while others are part of a triangular route.

America

Most flights between Ethiopia and North America have a technical stopover in Rome (FCO). The North America-Ethiopia leg is non-stop, except the services via Lome (Togo).

Asia

Europe

Some are non-stop routes, while others are part of a triangular route.

In addition to international flights, the main business of its hub in Addis Ababa, the flag carrier has a well-developed domestic network, focused on the country’s capital.

For these operations, it uses only narrow-body aircraft, being the Dash 8, Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, and Boeing 737 MAX 8, configured for 67/71/78, 118, 154, and 160/185 passengers, respectively.

Addis Ababa serves most of Ethiopian Airlines’ domestic routes in Ethiopia, but the airline also operates regular services between other cities in the country, which will be listed at the end of the table.

Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Airlines Group has other airlines in Africa, including Air Congo, ASKY Airlines, Malawian Airlines, and Zambia Airways, based in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Lome (Togo), Lilongwe (Malawi), and Lusaka (Zambia), respectively.

Fleet

1. Ethiopian Airlines (ET/ETH): 145 aircraft
2. ASKY Airlines (KP/SKK): 14 aircraft
3. Malawian Airlines (3W/MWI): 4 aircraft
4. Air Congo (4H/DRC): 2 aircraft
5. Zambia Airways (ZN/AZB): 1 aircraft

Air Congo was the last airline to be established by the Ethiopian Airlines Group, launching flights on December 9th, 2024.

Cover photo: © Raimund Stehmann – JetPhotos (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)