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Ethiopia Air Transport
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.
Although it refrained from interfering in EAL operations,
the Mengistu government opposed the airline's plans to
expand into areas such as hotel construction and management,
tourism, and catering, which the government reserved for
state corporations, which operated at a loss. In June 1989,
EAL announced plans to spend US$l.2 billion on new aircraft;
in early 1991, EAL received Western credits to acquire five
new Boeing 757s and to refinance two Boeing 767s.
Data as of 1991
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