By Dale Hes and Gaongalelwe Dinale.

Following the opening of China’s borders, Ethiopian Airlines has announced that it will be ramping up its frequencies to Chinese cities to pre-COVID levels by March 1.

From February 6, the carrier will again operate daily flights from Addis Ababa to Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, while steadily increasing its weekly flights to Beijing and Shanghai to four each and maintaining a thrice-weekly operation to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province.

According to a media statement by the airline, by March 1 flights will have returned to pre-COVID levels (28 per week), with daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai, ten weekly flights to Guangzhou and four weekly flights to Chengdu.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew Bekele, emphasised the importance of the opening of the Chinese market, one of the airline’s largest outside Africa.

"We are glad that we are ramping up the frequencies of our flights to Chinese cities thanks to the easing of flight restrictions by the government of China. The increase in flight frequencies will help revive the trade, investment, cultural and bilateral co-operation between Africa and China in the post-COVID-19 era."

Tasew said the airline’s large network across the African continent would provide a major boost to inbound tourism from China.

“We are keen to further expand our service to China going forward,” he said.

Flights resume to south-east Asia

The airline will also resume flights to Singapore and onwards to Kuala Lumpur in March.

The flight will operate four times a week using a B787 Dreamliner. Outbound flights will depart Addis Ababa on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The return flight will leave KL on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Bekele said the flights’ resumption would further expand the airline’s network in Asia and create air connectivity for passengers travelling between Africa and Singapore.

“The new flight will also facilitate trade, investment and tourism ties between Africa and Singapore. In line with our plan for growing our network around the world we will keep on opening new routes to enhance connectivity between Africa and the rest of the world via Addis Ababa.”