Ethiopian Airlines to Celebrate Inaugural Flight to Toronto

Ethiopian Airlines will be hosting a ceremony on Monday July 16, 2012 at the VIP Salon of Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in celebration of its milestone inaugural flight to Toronto scheduled on the same day.

The ceremony celebrating the first direct connection between Toronto and Africa is expected to be attended by many dignitaries, including, H.E Ato Diriba Kuma, Minister of Transport; H.E Mrs. Michèle Lévesque, Canadian Ambassador to Ethiopia; other government dignitaries, members of the diplomatic community; and the media.

Ahead of the ceremony, Ato Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian, said “We have long envisioned Canada as integral part of our growing network. Canada is home to a thriving business community and a large African diaspora. Our flight to Canada will play an instrumental role in serving both communities and in enhancing trade and economic ties between Africa and Canada.”

Toronto will be the 69th international destination for Ethiopian and the 2nd in the Americas. With this new flight, Toronto will be connected, via Ethiopian’s hub at Addis Ababa, to the most extensive network in Africa, covering such cities as Johannesburg, Nairobi, Dares Salaam, Kigali, Lusaka, Bujumbura, the Seychelles, Douala, Kinshasa and Harare.

Passengers traveling from cities in North America such as Montréal, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Boston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and San Francisco will also find convenient and direct connections to Africa via Toronto.

Ethiopian will fly on the Toronto route its brand new and ultra-modern B777-200LR aircraft, configured with 34 seats in the luxurious Cloud Nine Business Class and 287 seats in Economy Class.

“Although Ethiopian is scheduled to fly to Toronto just twice weekly, we are ready to immediately add more flights, once the bilateral agreement between the two countries is enhanced” added CEO Tewolde.

Ethiopian, the fastest growing airline in Africa, is continuously striving to enhance its customers’ travel experience with a fast expanding network and the introduction of brand new state-of-the-art aircraft.

In the current Ethiopian fiscal year alone, Ethiopian will enter into service 14 additional new aircraft, including 5 ultra-modern B787-800 Dream liners and 3 B737-800s with Sky Interior. Ethiopian is on track to launch service to five new destinations in 2012, including not only Toronto but São Paulo as well.