LONDON – This week Ethiopian Cargo has announced that they will be adding the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Shenzhen to their cargo network.
Ethiopian Cargo to Xiamen & Shenzhen…
As part of its expansively growing cargo network, Ethiopian Cargo will be adding both the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Shenzhen to its network.
Starting from February 10, Ethiopian Cargo will connect Xiamen to both South American cities of São Paulo in Brazil and Santiago in Chile via their home base in Addis Ababa. This service will be operated on a twice-weekly basis.
Starting from February 17, Ethiopian Cargo will then begin its services to Shenzhen from Liège in Belgium. This service will also be operated on a twice-weekly basis.
Both of these new services will be operated by the carrier’s Boeing 777 Freighters, of which they currently have nine in their fleet with a further five on order for a total of 14 Boeing 777 Freighters.
Ethiopian Cargo also has four smaller Boeing 737-800 Converted Freighters (BCF) which are mostly used for their short to medium-haul freighter services, as well as that they will be adding six Boeing 767-300 Converted Freighters, both BCF and BDSF to once again increase their dedicated freighter capacity.
Adding these two new Chinese cities to their network now brings Ethiopian Cargo to Chinese destinations to a total of eight, alongside Changsha, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Zhengzhou.
Not only this, but Ethiopian also serves four passenger destinations, which are, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai.
Interestingly, this announcement of two new Chinese cargo destinations for Ethiopian Cargo comes as the carrier marks its 50th anniversary since it started passenger services to China back in 1973.
Xiamen and Shenzhen now bring Ethiopian Cargo’s dedicated freighter destination list to a total of 68, however, the carrier does offer belly hold capacity to over 130 different international destinations.
Executive Comments…
Commenting on their newest cargo destinations, Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mesfin Tasew, has said, “We are glad to expand our reach in China by adding Xiamen and Shenzhen to our global freighter network.”
“The new cargo flights will be instrumental in facilitating cargo shipments across the world by improving air connectivity among China, Africa, Europe, and South America.”
“As the largest cargo network operator in Africa and a key air cargo service provider globally, Ethiopian Airlines will continue expanding its services around the world by opening new routes and increasing flight frequencies so as to facilitate global trade and the flow of goods.”
Overall…
This latest expansion for Ethiopian Cargo is yet another sign that their freighter network is once again on the rise. Especially to and from China.
Will we see more Chinese destinations from Ethiopian in the future? Only time will tell, but with a growing network and the need for more cargo capacity, it certainly is a point to keep in mind.
