Ethiopian Airlines celebrates 50th anniversary of serving China

Ethiopian Airlines, the leading and fastest growing Airline in Africa, is celebrating the 50th year of the commencement of its service to China.

The carrier carried out its first flight to Shanghai on February 21, 1973, and operated there for a while before shifting its flights to Beijing on November 7, 1973, which remains one of its popular destinations in Asia.

Ethiopian Airlines is the first African carrier to fly to China, and has been connecting the country with the whole of Africa for half a century now.

China is one of the biggest markets for carrier with passenger services to four destinations, namely, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hong Kong.

Marking the 50 years of service to China, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said, "The beginning of flights to China 50 years ago heralded an important milestone in the history of the Airline. Ethiopian was among the first to serve China and has ever since been providing reliable services to the country. As China is one of the key destinations in Asia, we will maintain our commitment to serve the country, thereby providing access for the Chinese people to the big African market. China-Africa relation is projected to grow significantly in the coming years, and Ethiopian Airlines continues to serve the needs of the travelling public by availing the best connections to Africa and beyond, using its ultramodern aircraft. We are pleased to have served the people of China for the last 50 years, and we will continue to be a bridge connecting China with African nations."

Ethiopian Airlines continued to offer uninterrupted service to destinations in China even during the COVID-19 pandemic although the frequency of its passenger flights were restricted. However, the frequency of its flights to Chinese cities is increasing significantly following the lifting of restrictions by the Chinese government.

Ultimately the flights will get back to the pre-COVID-19 levels soon with daily flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong as well as 10 and four weekly flights to Guangzhou and Chengdu, respectively. When the services are fully restored, Ethiopian will operate a total of 35 weekly passenger flights to China.

In addition to its passenger flights, Ethiopian is also operating 31 cargo flights per week to nine destinations in China, including three new additions. The airline has been serving daily cargo flights to Guangzhou and Hong Kong, four weekly flights to Shanghai and three each to Zhengzhou and Wuhan along with two to Changsha.

Ethiopian also added three more freighter destinations to China recently: two weekly flights each to Xiamen and Shenzhen as well as one to Chengdu. With five passenger and nine cargo scheduled services, Ethiopian Airlines operates combined 66 weekly flights to 10 destinations in China.