Ethiopian Airlines appoints World Aviation Systems as General Sales Agent in Australia and New Zealand

World Aviation Systems has been appointed General Sales Agent in Australia and New Zealand for Ethiopian Airlines (IATA code ET), one of Africa’s most progressive carriers, and a launch customer for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The appointment covers both passenger and cargo services operated by the airline, which serves 42 international and 22 domestic destinations from its base in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Ethiopian Airlines operates a fleet of 17 Boeing 737, 757 and 767 twinjets, configured with Economy and Cloud Nine (Business) Class cabins, and eight all-economy turboprop aircraft (five Fokker F-50 and three DHC-6) on domestic routes.

And in 2008, Ethiopian will receive the first of 10 new Boeing 787 airliners, becoming not only the first African operator of the aircraft, but one of the first in the world.

Established 60 years ago, Ethiopian Airlines built its operation on a strong pan-African network - now one of the most comprehensive on the African continent - before expanding to 10 cities in the Asian, Gulf and Middle East regions, six European destinations and Washington DC.

From Australia, the airline’s closest gateways are Bangkok, with daily flights to Addis Ababa, and Hong Kong, with four weekly flights to Addis Ababa, via Bangkok. All of these flights connect with onward services throughout Africa.

The airline is exploring opportunities to increase intra-Africa services, and is planning to expand its presence in major international markets including the UK and Europe, and to the USA, with which the Ethiopian Government signed an open skies agreement earlier this year.

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