ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines (ET) plans to make Addis Ababa Bole International Airport a global aviation hub in line with its ambition of becoming a world class airline.
Speaking exclusively to Xinhua on Thursday Tewolde Gebremariam CEO of ET said the airline is working on boosting lagging facilities such as in-customer service, airport entertainment for transit passengers and Wi-Fi internet connectivity.
"The plan to make Addis Ababa a global aviation hub will have tremendous impact, because when you enter market competition of the airlines, what's visible to the public is the airplanes, but there's also significant competition on ground services," he added.
He also said Africa's largest air carrier is working on relieving congestion in Addis Ababa International Airport by establishing regional hubs such as in Lome, Togo to service West Africa region and in Lilongwe, Malawi to service southern Africa region.
ET is also discussing with the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to have a hub in Kinshasa for Central Africa region.
"The hubs will give us closer connection with customers and expand the low Inter-Africa connectivity" said Gebremariam, adding that increased air connectivity can significantly increase the Inter-Africa trade from the current 15 percent.
"The availability of air traffic promotes mobility and connectivity which in turn encourages trade, one more reason why we're working on making Addis Ababa International Airport a global aviation hub and expanding hubs in other African cities," he added.
