Ethiopian Airlines said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with the Zambian Government to re-launch Zambia’s national carrier, which was shut down more than two decades ago.
Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement in Addis Ababa that the Zambia Airways would initially serve national and regional destinations before embarking on international flights.
The airline said that the deal with the shareholders of Zambia Airways enabled it to acquire a 45 per cent stake in the firm.
The statement, however, did not disclose how much it had paid for the stake.
State-owned Zambia Airways went into liquidation in 1994.
Ethiopia’s state-owned flag carrier is ranked by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as the largest airline in Africa both in terms of revenue and profit.
It is in talks with a number of airline companies across the continent to acquire stakes and manage operations.
Ethiopian Airlines operates and manages Malawi Airlines through a deal signed in 2013.
It also has a deal with ASKY, a West African airline with shareholders, which include the ECOWAS regional bloc of countries and a number of banks.
The airline’s revenue rose by 10.3 per cent to 54.5 billion birr ($2.43 billion) in the 2015/16 fiscal year, while passenger numbers climbed by 18 per cent to 7.6 million. Net profit was up by 70 per cent at six billion birr.
Ethiopian Airlines wants to increase revenue to 10 billion dollars by 2025, as well as expand its fleet to 140 aircraft from less than 90 now, with its sights set on Asia. (Reuters/NAN)
