There is no shortage of lofty long-term growth plans in the airline industry. But as it approaches the halfway stage of its ambitious 15-year strategic vision, Ethiopian Airlines can point to its outpacing of rivals on the African continent.
The fortunes of network-carrier rivals EgyptAir, Kenya Airways and South African Airways have in recent years faltered for a variety of reasons, while Africa’s early adopters of the low-cost carrier model have struggled to make headway in its fragmented skies.
But since embarking on the 15-year plan in 2011, Ethiopian Airlines has charted a relatively stable path to establish itself as region’s biggest carrier.
“When we planned [Vision] 2025, we were the fourth-biggest airline in Africa, behind SAA, EgyptAir and Kenya Airways. But now we are number one, by far,” noted chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam during an interview with reporters in London on 8 November.
FlightGlobal schedules data for December 2010, the month prior to the start of Ethiopian’s 15-year plan, shows EgyptAir and SAA as the biggest carriers in Africa by capacity. Ethiopian was vying for third spot, along with Kenya Airways and North African pair Air Algerie and Tunisair.
Figures for December 2017 show Ethiopian as the African carrier with the most capacity by any measure. Over the past seven years, the Star Alliance member has more than doubled capacity. By contrast, EgyptAir and mainline SAA are both smaller, in capacity terms, than at the start of the decade.
Gebremariam – who took the helm at Ethiopian in January 2011,
Article source: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-how-ethiopian-has-come-to-the-fore-in-afr-443108/