Ethiopian Airlines is still booming even with the recent travel ban issued by US President Donald Trump. The state-owned airline is not even fazed in the slightest even though its neighbouring countries are the primary target of President Trump's travel ban.
According to Africa News, the travel ban posed no serious threats that can make problems to the airline's overall operations. Ethiopian Airline Chief Executive, Tewolde Gebremariam claimed that the only visible effect of the ban was the confusion for some of its passengers.
Among the seven countries that were affected by President Trump's travel ban are Somalia, Sudan and Libya. However, these countries proved to be of little importance to Ethiopian Airline's continued success.
CEO Tewolde even claimed that the airline's revenue rose up to a 10.3 percent to 54.5 billion birr or $2.43 billion in fiscal year 2015-2016. Their passenger numbers also jumped 18 percent to 7.6 million which resulted for a 70 percent increase in the airline's net profit. They are currently expanding globally with a target to become a global player in the aerial transportation industry.
The national flag carrier has been highly praised for its amazing monetary feat as well as their technological advancement and modernized fuel efficient aircrafts. The airline was even awarded as Africa's best airline for five consecutive years by the African Airlines Association. This recognition only proved that Ethiopia is ready for globalization and expanding their destinations to other parts of the planet.
When asked about the plans for the airline's expansion, Tewolde answered that they are eyeing Asia as their primary focus as reported by Yahoo. They are planning to add Chinese aircrafts, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners and Airbus A350 to make up their expansion fleet. They are also adding routes not only in China but also in Jakarta, Indonesia and Singapore.
The carrier is setting its goal to reach a $10 billion revenue by the year 2025 and expanding its fleet into 140 aircraft from the 90 vehicles that they have at the present. With the pace that the airline is going, there is no doubt that they will be able to achieve their goal.
