Ethiopia Commences New Routes to South’s Upper Nile Region

Tesfa-Alem Tekle

25 June 2011

Addis Ababa — African carrier, Ethiopian Airlines has started an additional flights to South Sudan’s Malakal town in the Upper Nile region, the second destination to the region the Airliner offers services to.

Ethiopian Airlines announced that the latest service to Malakal has gone into effective since June 17, 2011.

In May 2006, the Ethiopian airlines for the first time launched weekly four flight services to South Sudan’s capital Juba, with stop over in Kenya and in Entebbe, Uganda up on heading and return. The latest operation will bring the airline’s global destinations to 62.

The airline will operate the routes to Malakal, four times a week on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

South Sudan is due to officially become an independent state on July 9, making it the world’s newest state. With yet poor infrastructure and underdeveloped road system, the additional flight schedule will have an important part in allowing South Sudan connect with neighboring countries.

“The new flight service to Malakal provides the best connectivity and convenience for business people as well as the general public of the South Sudan.” said Tewolde Gebre-Mariam, chief executive officer of Ethiopian Airlines.

“The new operation will connect Malakal to the vast Ethiopian route network worldwide via the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport hub” statement of the company said.

Similarly, Ethiopian airlines have begun new flight to Hangzhou, china five times weekly.

The launching of the new flight service to Hangzhou marks its fourth destination in china. The airliner said that Ethiopians flight to Hangzhou is a great alternative to the busy Shanghai airport for those

Ethiopia airlines, one of the fastest growing and most reputable airliner in Africa, is also one of the few year-to-year multiple award winning airliner.

The horn of Africa country, Africa’s biggest coffee exporter, has become landlocked after its former northern region, Eritrea, declared its independence in 1993 and air transport plays an important role to the country’s transport service to the outer world.

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