Ethiopian Airlines to join Star Alliance; closer partnership with SAS
Star Alliance announced today that Ethiopian Airlines will become a
member of the alliance as its Chief Executive Board has unanimously
approved Ethiopian Airlines' joining application. Ethiopian Airlines is
expected to become a Star Alliance member within the next 12 months.
SAS already code-shares with Ethiopian Airlines on the Stockholm-Addis
Ababa route since earlier this year, but the partnership has now been
expanded to include a number of Ethiopian's African destinations, such
as Ambouli (Djibouti), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), Entebbe (Uganda),
Mombasa (Kenya), Nairobi (Kenya), and Zanzibar (Tanzania).
"On behalf of Star Alliance's Chief Executive Board, it gives me great
pleasure to invite Ethiopian Airlines to join the Star Alliance network.
Ethiopian's extensive intra-African network will provide more choice for
our travellers and bring the Star Alliance benefits to new markets.
Moreover, we will in future have three main hubs - Addis Ababa, Cairo
and Johannesburg - allowing for an ideal access to the continent from
either the North, Centre-East or South," said Jaan Albrecht, CEO, Star
Alliance.
Ethiopian Airlines will become the third Star Alliance member carrier on
the African Continent, joining EGYPTAIR and South African Airways. SAS
will also commence code-share agreement with EGYPTAIR on the new
Cairo-Copenhagen route, which will be launched by EGYPTAIR October 1.
"We are happy and honoured to be invited to the big family of airlines.
Ethiopian will definitely enhance Star Alliance's global network. Our
long experience in the Africa market, coupled with our strategic hub
Addis Ababa, and the recently created Lomé hub, will allow Star Alliance
members to access many new markets in Africa. Together, we can offer our
passengers more convenient flight schedules, greater flight frequencies,
a larger network and more on-line connections. All these features
improve the quality of the service available to our customers", said Mr.
Girma Wake, CEO, Ethiopian Airlines.
The acceptance of Ethiopian Airlines is an integral part of Star
Alliance's Africa strategy. Market studies, conducted by the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) as well as by the
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), show that Africa is
forecast to have the second highest growth rate in air traffic over the
coming years. Demand will mainly stem from economic growth made possible
by increasing political stability on the continent.
Through its future membership in Star Alliance, Ethiopian Airlines will
gain access to the many markets across the globe. By the same token,
more business travellers from Ethiopia and across Africa will in future
benefit from the Star Alliance customer proposition: world-wide reach
via the extensive network, seamless travel and status recognition
through the frequent flyer programmes.
Ethiopian Airlines will add five new countries (Chad, Congo, Djibouti,
Mali, and Niger) and 24 new African destinations to the Star Alliance
network, which will then encompass a total of 29 carriers, offering a
choice of more than 21,380 daily flights to 1,196 destinations in 186
countries.
About Star Alliance:
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly
global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and
seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the
market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air
Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both
Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria
Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA,
Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental
Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa,
Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South
African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish
Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Air India and Ethiopian Airlines
have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance
network offers over 21,200 daily flights to 1,172 airports in 181
countries.
For more information, please contact:
SAS Press Hotline
Telephone: +46 8 797 2944
