Ethiopian Airlines last week announced a new flight from Africa
to the US, in direct connections that are now gathering pace with the
prospect of reducing transcontinental freight charges.
Ethiopian
Airlines, which already flies to Washington DC, New York and Los
Angeles, will, from June 2018, additionally be flying from Addis Ababa
to Chicago, stopping over in Dublin.
“Chicago is the
third biggest city in the US and a critical global aviation hub. It will
now become our fourth direct-flight destination in the US and through
it we will be filling a gap in the link between Chicago and Africa. It
will enhance the economic relations between US and Africa and enable
better trade associations, investments and promote tourism,” said
Tewolde Gebre Mariam, Ethiopian Airlines CEO.
A direct
flight has no change in flight numbers, but includes stops at an
intermediate while a nonstop has no stop on the journey.
South African Airlines now runs direct flights from Johannesburg
to Washington DC and New York. From West Africa, Cape Verde Airline now
flies directly from Paia to Boston.
In
North Africa, Egypt Air now offers a direct flight from Cairo to New
York, while Royal Air Maroc (Morocco) flies from Casablanca to New York.
In
East Africa, only Ethiopian Airlines has connected directly to the US,
but with the launch of its now fourth direct flight, and the
announcement by Kenya Airways
of direct flights from
Nairobi to New York from October 2018, the region is now moving to
become more directly connected than any other region of Africa.
For
freight customers this offers the hope of significantly cheaper transit
for goods travelling to the US market. “Cargo rates are determined by
many factors and competition is extremely high among carriers,” said
Maarten Klinjstra, general manager, Siginon Aviation.
Freight
plying the US route via a connecting flight via Europe or the UAE also
has to pay foreign taxes through their air tickets for the destination.
- African Laughter
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