Ethiopian Airlines sets 2028 for flights to Australia

Ethiopian Airlines has set 2028 for the launch of non-stop flights to Australia, ending years of will-they-won’t they speculation – although plenty of details are yet to be finalised.

Airline CEO Mesfin Tasew, speaking at a press briefing at the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, told reporters “we will most likely start flying to Australia in 2028, either by renting or purchasing, as a larger batch of aircraft will arrive after that year.”

However, Tasew cautioned that the availability of suitable long-range Airbus A350 or Boeing 787-9 aircraft would drive the timeline.

“We need to secure at least two large aircraft to operate to the continent,” he said. “It will take at least two years to receive aircraft from manufacturers.”

Ethiopian Airlines counts both of these jets in its fleet, which spans more than 145 international destinations across Africa, Europe, Asia and North America, and has orders for more on the books.

This includes nine additional Boeing 787-9s Dreamliners and six Airbus A350-900s, which are equally capable of flying directly to Perth, Sydney or Melbourne.

Tasew added that two Australian cities have been shortlisted for the planned 2028 launch, but declined to name them.

However, the airline’s Singapore-based Regional Manager Telila Deressa Gutema last year confirmed he had been in discussions with both Sydney and Melbourne airports, “driving forward our strategic goal of expanding our services to Australia.”

Ethiopian Airlines – Africa’s largest airline, and a member of the Star Alliance family – has also confirmed its plans to add doored business class suites to its newer Airbus and Boeing orders.

The Airbus A350s will sport the same Collins Aerospace Elevation seat as most recently seen on Malaysia Airlines’ A330neo jets, while the Dreamliners will be crowned by Elevate Aircraft Seating’s Ascent model.

More to follow...