Ethiopian Airlines is in talks with Nigeria’s federal government, private investors and local airlines about starting a new carrier in Nigeria, group chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam told reporters in Abuja.
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787-8, registration ET-ARE, April 2019 (Melv_L - MACASR, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0) [file photo]
“We have been discussing and exploring possibilities to establish or support a strong airline in Nigeria. I don’t mean that there is no strong airline in Nigeria, but we want an airline that can satisfy the demand of the domestic market, the regional market, and the international market,” he said, according to BusinessDay and The Guardian Nigeria.
He said Ethiopian preferred to build a new airline rather than take over an existing one. “We are making it abundantly clear that we want to start a new one because starting from a clean slate or paper is advantageous because we won’t have any legacy or baggage to carry,” he said. “There is a strong indication and interest from both sides and I am very hopeful that very soon, we will have a strong base to start with.”
Ethiopian has helped set up ASKY and carriers in Malawi, Mozambique and Chad, Tewolde noted, and is also in talks with Ghana’s government about establishing Ghana Airways. But Nigeria, the biggest market, “has been a challenge to be honest with you,” he said. He told The Guardian Nigeria that Ethiopian loses about $3 million a year on its Kano and Enugu routes because of low traffic.
Tewolde said Nigeria has lacked a strong carrier since the collapse of Nigeria Airways, and called that part of a continental problem: non-African airlines carry most traffic between Africa and the rest of the world, in a ratio of around 80 to 20, he said.
Nigeria’s government had planned its own national carrier. A committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in August 2015 led to the launch of the Nigeria Air brand in London in July 2018, but the project was later abandoned, Nairametrics reported, describing Ethiopian’s talks as a move to become the country’s national carrier.
Sources: BusinessDay, The Guardian Nigeria, Nairametrics