Ethiopian - Civil Aviation
Ethiopia suffers from uneven economic development, with a small modern urban economy super-imposed on a vast pre-modern rural society. This stark division is most apparent in the traditional dirt roads that lead to gleaming recently constructed jet airports. Almost a quarter of Ethiopia’s population of over 100 million continue to live in extreme poverty.
In Ethiopia driving is difficult due to a lack of well maintained roads and bridges. Most of the roads are not constructed very well. One percent of the country’s roads are asphalt. The majority of those asphalted roads are found in major cities like Addis Ababa. The rest of the country has no or only a few asphalt roads. Traffic lights are found in major cities but they are not very well maintained. The country has a special police force to control traffic. They are called traffic police. They generally control traffic, issue tickets to drivers for speeding, driving without a license, accidents and other things. In Ethiopia most of the cars have manual transmissions although now a few automatic transmission cars are being introduced into the country. But it is good to drive with a manual transmission because most of the country has mountains.
Aviation in Ethiopia is a high-growth sector with increasing demand for air transportation, both passenger and cargo, with the sector expanding at an average 20% growth rate. In the past 25 years, small private airways emerged operating small aircraft carrying less than 50 passengers, a regulatory maximum for private operators. These private airlines usually provide local flight services, mostly chartered flights, to remote locations for the diplomatic community, private entities and humanitarian non-governmental organizations. In mid 2018, the new government of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed announced that Ethiopia would open its state-owned Ethiopian Airlines to private domestic and foreign investment, a major policy shift.
Transportation, which was growing in this way, was disrupted by the invasion of Fascist Italy in 1928, and the operation was halted during the period from 1933-1942. However, the establishment of a civil aviation administration in 1937, the establishment of Ethiopian Airlines in 1938; Ethiopian Highway Authority in 1943; The establishment of a shipping company in 1958 marked the resurgence of the sector.
Distance, terrain, and an underdeveloped road system made air transport an important part of Ethiopia's transportation network. Ethiopian Airlines (EAL), a government-owned corporation that began operations in l946, provided domestic and international air service. The airline served some forty-five cities and towns in Ethiopia and operated international flights that, in early 1991, included service to twenty-one cities in eighteen African countries; to western European destinations such as London, Paris, Frankfurt, Rome, and Athens; and to India and China. Many international and several regional airlines also provided regular service between Ethiopia and other countries.
International airports were located at Addis Ababa, Asmera, and Dire Dawa. Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport served more than l95,000 passengers in EFY l986/87, while the Asmera and Dire Dawa airports handled l08,000 and 8l,000 passengers, respectively, during the same period. Bole International Airport and the airport at Asmera were capable of handling larger aircraft, such as the Boeing 747.
EAL had an excellent reputation because of its safety record. It was also one of the few profitable African airlines. EAL also had provided training and maintenance services to more than a dozen other African and Middle Eastern airlines. In late 1986, EAL assembled the first agro-aircraft to support the nation's agricultural development and the agro-aviational needs of other African countries. New facilities included an expanded catering network, a gas production plant, and base maintenance shops for ground equipment. EAL also had an ongoing program to automate airline activities such as maintenance and engineering, ticket accounting, and crew and corporate data management.
In view of this and to respond the high demand of transport in the country, a large construction of roads is being conducted through out the country. The other mode of transport is the Ethiopian Air Lines – serving people local and abroad, with a motto Africa's link to the world. This airline remains as one of the best air line in Africa and continues to be a reputable enterprise in the world. It serves in more than 25 airports locally and above 48 international links such as in Africa, Europe, Middle East and America. With the aim to meet the increasing demand of the people it is expanding its links with the world through its available aircrafts and additional leased jets like the air bus, which is recently in use. It has a capacity of 364 people to carry. Being proactive to the coming fierce competition the air line is changing itself with the world progress to remain lucrative and viable enterprise.
Likewise, the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority is a regulatory organ which oversees the air traffic and makes international agreements pertaining to the air transport. Similarly, the Ethiopian Air port Enterprise is a newly formed operator entity working in the area of expansion of air ports and terminals.
The Ethiopian Airports Enterprise (EAE) carried out an expansion of the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, under a $345 million contract with China Communication Construction Company. The objective is to triple the capacity of the airport from seven million passengers per year to 21 million. The first phase of the Bole International Airport expansion project was completed in early 2019. EAE also has plans to build a major airport outside of Addis Ababa with a capacity of 80 million passengers per year at a cost of $4 billion. The new airport would be built outside of Addis Ababa at a lower elevation, reducing jet fuel consumption and enabling flights of a greater distance. Aéroports de Paris International (ADPI) has completed a feasibility study for EAE to support identifying a suitable site for the project. In August 2018, Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of the Ethiopian Airlines Group, which includes EAE, announced that the site selected for the new airport will be Abusera in Bishoftu, also know a Debre Zeit, 50 kilometers from Addis Ababa. At present, Ethiopian Airlines management is in negotiation with the Oromia regional state to secure the land.
The Government of Ethiopia (GOE) drives growth in the domestic aviation sector by building airports throughout the country. EAE has a goal of increasing the number of total airports in the country to 25 by 2020. Construction of Nekemte airport began in 2017 at a cost of $27.5 million. The construction of the Hawassa International Airport was completed in 2016 and Ethiopian Airlines flew its first flight to Hawassa city in April 2016. A local contractor, YOTEK Construction, built the airport at a cost of nearly $21 million. This airport was built to support the textile industrial park of Hawassa.
During the past decade, Ethiopian Airlines (EAL) registered average revenue growth of 20% per annum. EAL has been following an aggressive 15-year plan, called vision 2025, with a goal to make EAL the most competitive aviation group in Africa. According to CentreforAviation.com, in 2017, EAL operated the largest number of aircraft in Africa followed by Egypt Air and South African Airways; with the latter two operating 68 and 64 passenger aircraft respectively. EAL today operates over 100 aircraft, with over 70% of these aircraft supplied by Boeing. EAL aspires to retain its leading African airline position in both passenger and cargo loads.
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