ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian is converting its passenger airplanes into cargo service providers to withstand COVID-19 impact.
Ethiopian Chief Operating Officer Mesfin Tassew told The Ethiopian Herald that currently Ethiopian has some 120 airliners. Twelve of these are cargo and the rest are passenger airliners.
Following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Airlines was forced to halt most of its passenger services, he added.
Some 90 destinations are temporarily closed due to the pandemic and as a result, the number of flights has also been significantly reduced, according to him.
“Currently, there is a high demand for cargo services globally than passenger services. As a result, we are using some of the passenger planes for cargo transport. We are keeping some of the airliners with or without seats for cargo services”, he stressed.
The overall economic impact of COVID-19 has forced the airline to stop its daily flights to its worldwide destinations. “As a result, we have been forced to stop over 90 percent of our passenger services in the last three months,” Mesfin added.
The Chief Operating Officer this budget year, the Airlines is planning to earn five billion dollars in revenue, adding that, the revenue has shown a significant reduction since the start of the pandemic.
While 85 percent of the Airlines’ annual revenue comes from passenger service, now it is forced to be dependent on cargo services only, he indicated. Thus, the current flight of the Airlines is only about 15 percent of its total capacity.
The Airlines has approximately 127 international and 22 national destinations.
Accordingly, properly implementing its plans regularly has allowed it to grow from time to time. In particular, the development of infrastructure, the availability of trained human resources, the implementation of modern aircraft, and the adoption of technology are the key factors in its success.
Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic is hugely affecting the airline transportation sector. Many airlines are experiencing liquidation. Following this, the airlines are taking different measures to recover.
The Ethiopian Herald May 28, 2020
BY TEWODROS KASSA
