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An Interview with Nigusu Worku, Regional Director of the USA for Ethiopian Airlines

Editor’s note: Africa is home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world with East Africa leading the region in terms of GDP growth, lifting millions of consumers out of poverty to mid-income category. Air Travel is expected to continue its historic relationship with GDP thus increasing demand in air travel. Ethiopian Airlines is East Africa’s most profitable Airline with a goal to become the largest Airline in Africa, with $10 billion annual revenue and four hubs to cover continental Africa by 2025. WardheerNews is pleased to share with its esteemed readers an interview it had with Mr. Nigusu Worku, who is the Regional Director of the USA for Ethiopian Airlines. Abdelkarim Hassan and Mohamed Osman collaborated in conducting this interview for WardheerNews.
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WardheerNews (WDN): We are delighted to welcome Ethiopian Airlines to WardheerNews.com for the second time. We also would like to extend our sincere felicitations in honor of Ethiopian Airlines 70th Anniversary. Before we delve into the bulk of the interview, Mr. Nigusu Worku, could you please share with us a brief background history about yourself?

worku
Mr. Nigusu Worku,the Regional Director of the USA for Ethiopian Airlines.

Mr. Worku: First I would like to thank WardheerNews for the opportunity to share  with Ethiopian Airlines services to the readers. In 2004, a few years after attending Addis Ababa University and receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management, I joined Ethiopian Airlines as a college trainee. In those early years at the airline, I used to serve in varieties of roles that included that of an Analyst, Senior Analyst, Assistant to the COO, and CEO. While assisting members of the C-Suite, I continued with my education at Addis Ababa University and earned a Master of Arts Degree in Marketing Management. I also briefly served as Interim Country Manager in Equatorial Guinea and then in Canada before being appointed the Country Manager for Canada in 2013. In that role, I headed sales and marketing, as well as airport operations in Canada. In 2015, I was assigned Regional Director, Sales and Services in the USA.

WDN: How is Ethiopian Airlines’ 2025 vision- growth strategy aligning thus far to become the largest Airline in Africa with targeted annual revenue of $10 billion and the creation of four hubs to cover continental Africa by 2025?

Mr. Worku: In general, we are progressing very well and we believe that we will achieve the Vision 2025 targets well ahead of 2025. In short, by Vision 2025, Ethiopian Airlines will be a leading aviation group with seven business units/profit centers—International Services, Regional and Domestic Services, Cargo Services, Maintenance and Repair Services, Ground Handling Services, In-Flight Catering Services, Aviation Academy Services. Specific targets for the Ethiopian Aviation group are

  • 10 Billion USD Revenue
  • 1 Billion USD Profit
  • 120 international destinations and 26 domestic destinations
  • A fleet size of 140 aircraft
  • 22 million annual passengers
  • 820,000 tons of annual cargo
  • 17000 employees
Ethiopianairline
Ethiopian Airlines

WDN: Ethiopian Airlines has added new inter and intra-continental network expansions that include Los Angles and New York. Could you share with us the performance of these new routes thus far?

Mr. Worku: Since the initial establishment, our motto has been bringing Africa together and closer to the world as connectivity has been a problem for the socioeconomic development of Africa. Things have changed now for the better; Africa is getting the attention it deserves and our new flight will create connectivity between western Africa and New York area and it will enhance trade, investment and tourism. So far, the flight is doing well. In fact, we started with three flights in July, 2016 and we added one more frequency in August. We hope we will be able to make it daily, very soon.

WDN: Are there any plans for Ethiopian Airlines to add a Mogadishu/Bossasso route or other underserved destinations given ET’s recent expansion into Comoros? What are the major challenges of expansion into Mogadishu/Bossasso?

Mr. Worku: Ethiopian Airlines is growing fast and we would like to increase the number of our destinations. In this regard, Mogadishu/Bossasso is a big market that has been under study for long. We do monitor the socioeconomic and security conditions that are progressing well. We strongly believe that we will add Mogadishu in the near future to our expanding network.

WDN: In order to compete with global carriers, a major challenge for African Airlines has been the protection of its national carriers and the lack of liberalization of air transport. How is Ethiopian Airlines managing these challenges?

Mr. Worku: Yes, African skies need to be liberalized more for African carriers in order for them to have a fair share of the market. Currently, African carriers are getting only 20% of the From/To Africa market and 80% of the market is served by non-African carriers. We believe that we should share the market equally. On our part, we are creating the benefit of having more liberalized African skies to African Carriers.

ethiopian-airlines-network
Ethiopian serves more African destinations than any other airline.

WDN: Ethiopian Airlines boasts one of the youngest fleets around the globe and has recently taken delivery of the latest in Aircraft Technology including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 XWB. Besides fuel cost savings derived from the composite materials used to build the plane, what added benefits do these new aircrafts employ for long haul flights? What are some of the unique added features for passengers whom they fly in these new aircrafts?

Mr. Worku: Ethiopian Airline is operating one of the youngest fleet in the world (average age of 5 years) and the average age of the industry is over 10 years. Operating young ultramodern fleet has many benefits to us and our customers. It is eco-friendly as it has less carbon emission and saves a lot of fuel. For customers, it is convenient in many ways—convenient cabin pressure giving more oxygen to customers, wider cabins and windows and more leg rooms, etc.

WDN: Do you see any opportunities for growth in the Americas that Ethiopian Airlines could capitalize on in the near future? Does ET plan to expand into other major hubs in the continental U.S. e.g. Chicago, Minneapolis or Houston to serve the Midwest markets?

Mr. Worku: Yes, we are planning to add our fourth gate way in the USA very soon. We are studying Chicago, Houston, etc.

WDN: Finally, in commemoration of Ethiopian Airlines’ 70th Anniversary, what other special promotions remain to be offered to our readers who may possibly be interested in?

Mr. Worku: We always strive to give good value to the money our customers pay. In view of that, we have very good prices in all our networks, and I would like to mention this. For example, our fares to East Africa—Addis Ababa, Djibouti, Hargeisa, Nairobi, Mombasa, and Entebbe, are unbeatable with superior connections. Finally, I thank WardheerNews for having me.

WardheerNews
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An Interview with Mr. Esayas Woldemariam, the Managing Director of Ethiopian Airlines International Service

Read more WardheerNews interview archives

 


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