Ethiopian Airlines (), formerly Ethiopian Air Lines (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by the country's government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to international flights in 1951. The firm became a share company in 1965 and changed its name from Ethiopian Air Lines to Ethiopian Airlines.
The airline has been a member of the International Air Transport Association since 1959 and of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) since 1968. Ethiopian is a Star Alliance member, having joined in December 2011. The company slogan is 'The New Spirit of Africa.' Ethiopian's hub and headquarters are at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, from where it serves a network of 155 passenger destinations—22 of them domestic—and 68 freighter destinations. The airline has secondary hubs in Togo and Malawi. Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's largest airline in terms of passengers carried, destinations served, fleet size, and revenue. Ethiopian Airlines is also the world's fourth-largest airline by the number of countries served. Ethiopian Airlines is a subsidiary of the Ethiopian Airlines Group, which is wholly owned by Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the sovereign wealth fund of Ethiopia.
History The 1940s: early years After the liberation of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie I asked the United States, the United Kingdom, and France to help him establish an airline as part of his modernisation effort. According to the BBC News there is a possibility that the Emperor intended the creation of a quality national airline to help dispel impressions of Ethiopian poverty. In 1945, the Ethiopian government began negotiations with both Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express (later merged into TWA). On 8 September 1945, TWA signed an agreement with the American historian and foreign affairs advisor to Ethiopia John H. Spencer to establish a commercial aviation company in Ethiopia.
The carrier, originally called Ethiopian Air Lines (EAL), was founded on 21 December 1945, with an initial investment of ETB 2,5 million, divided in 25,000 shares that the government entirely held. The company was financed by the Ethiopian government but managed by TWA. At the beginning, it relied upon American pilots, technicians, administrators and accountants; even its General Managers were from TWA. Minister of Works and Communications Fitawrari Tafasse Habte Mikael became EAL first president and chairman, whereas H. H. Holloway —who was American— was appointed by TWA as general manager. The board held the first meeting on 26 December 1945, with a key point of the agenda being the deposit of E£75,000 in a bank in Cairo for the acquisition of aircraft and spare parts. Shortly afterwards, the airline negotiated for landing rights with Aden, Egypt, French Somaliland, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, and five Douglas C-47s were bought; these aircraft were flown to Addis Ababa in February 1946.
The new airline's maiden flight to Nairobi carried a shipment of East African currency equivalent to million in February 1946, but the first revenue scheduled service was on 8 April 1946; it travelled the Addis Ababa–Asmara–Cairo route using one of five Douglas C-47 Skytrains acquired from the US Government. This route later operated on a weekly basis. The Skytrains were initially intended for military use, although Ethiopian operated them in a mixed passenger-cargo configuration. Soon afterwards, the carrier launched services to Aden and Djibouti, as well as a domestic flight to Jimma. The main five routes in the early years were Addis Ababa–Asmara, Addis Ababa–Djibouti–Aden, Addis Ababa–Khartoum, Addis Ababa–Cairo (routed via Jeddah or Khartoum) and Asmara–Khartoum.
Henry Bruce Obermiller replaced Holloway as a general manager in June 1946. In July of the same year, four more Skytrains joined the fleet. New scheduled services to Sheikh Othman and Nairobi were launched in July 1946 and June 1947, respectively. In 1947, Waldon Gene Golien became the general manager, and the company started operating charter flights to Jeddah during the Hajj season. That year in February, three more Douglas C-47s were acquired to operate new international routes. A service to Mukalla was inaugurated in June 1947. In September, Port Sudan was added to the route network (it was previously a technical stop en route to Cairo), Lydda was incorporated as a scheduled destination in October and charter flights to Bombay were launched in November. Services to Lydda and Mukalla were discontinued in February and , respectively. In September, the route to Bombay became scheduled, with EAL flying as far as Aden, and BOAC operating the Aden–Bombay sector. The route also included stops at Mesirah Island in Oman and Karachi. For a brief period until April 1948, Mesirah Island was used as a refuelling stop; since then, services to French Somaliland and Aden started on a twice-weekly basis. EAL was allowed to fly to Aden using Sheik 'Othman Airport, located away from the city, whereas BOAC used the Khormaksar Airport facilities, just from the city. Aden was under British rule at the time as was Sudan, and the British Empire denied EAL landing rights at Khartoum, forcing the airline to move the refuelling stop on the Aden route to Port Sudan. The carrier recorded a £40,000 profit for 1949.
The 1950s: start of long-haul routes
Services to Bombay were withdrawn in . Also this year, a loan granted from the Ex-Im Bank enabled the carrier to incorporate Convair CV-240s, aimed at operating international routes. Two CV-240s, named "Eagle of Ethiopia" and "Haile Selassie I", entered the fleet in December 1950; starting January 1951, these aircraft were subsequently deployed on the Addis Ababa–Cairo, Addis Ababa–Nairobi, and Addis Ababa–Jeddah–Dhahran–Karachi routes, with Dhahran and Sharjah being incorporated to the route network on 20 February. In April 1952, the airline was appointed general sales agent for TWA in Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar, and by May the same year the fleet consisted of two Convair-Liner 240s and nine Douglas DC-3s or their subtypes, operating a route network that was long. Services to India and Sharjah were discontinued in 1953. On 14 July, a new agreement with TWA that succeeded the original one was signed. Unlike other companies, the airline's preamble stated that it was "the ultimate aim that EAL shall eventually be operated entirely by Ethiopian personnel".
A new service to Athens via Khartoum and Wadi Halfa was launched on 3 April 1954. A third Convair CV-240 ("The Spiritual Power") was purchased from Sabena in 1955 for . These aircraft were equipped with rocket-assisted take-off devices. This was a common practice for a small number of airlines in the World that EAL had abandoned by . Also in 1955, Ethiopian inaugurated a self-owned maintenance facility. That year, Vic Harrell succeeded Swede Golien as general manager of the company. The carrier required newer and larger aircraft, and three different aircraft types —two from the Lockheed Corporation, the Constellation and the Electra, and the Douglas DC-6— were considered for the fleet renewal programme. Two Douglas DC-6Bs were eventually ordered in 1956 for million, including spares; an option for a third machine was also taken. Another loan obtained from the Ex-Im Bank, a million one dating back to 1955, was partly used to finance the two purchased aircraft.
Benghazi was briefly served between 7 November 1956 and 15 January 1957. In 1957, a third DC-6B was purchased. Likewise, that year the airline had been asked to take a Lockheed L-749 that had been given as a gift to the Emperor, who declined it. Ethiopian paid million for this airframe, and it was incorporated into the fleet on 4 June; the aircraft was destroyed by fire on 10 July in an accident in Sudan. Two Yemeni cities, Hodeida and Taiz were first served on 1 September 1957. On , flights to Wadi Halfa were terminated. The incorporation of three Douglas DC-6Bs took place between May and July, and EAL started a new link between Addis Ababa and Athens, via Cairo, using these recently delivered aircraft. On 21 Jun, the route was extended both to the north and to the south so that Frankfurt and Nairobi became linked by the same corridor, operated with DC-6Bs. By this time, the Convairs were redeployed to serve domestic and regional routes. Given that radio operators were no longer required as part of flight crews, they were assigned other tasks with the airline. Swissair handled the pilot training for the DC-6B aircraft at Zürich. The suspension of fifth freedom rights between Djibouti and Aden prompted the discontinuance of the route that linked them. EAL joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on 1 January 1959. During the year, two Boeing 720Bs were ordered and scheduled for delivery in December 1961, two more DC-6Bs entered the fleet, services to Nairobi were suspended once more and the airline list of domestic destinations saw the incorporation of Bulchi, Dodollo, Lalibela and Masawa.
The 1960s and 1970s: the jet age
Port Sudan was removed from the list of destinations on . The airline had its first fatal accident on 15 July when a DC-3 crashed en route from Bulchi to Jimma, killing the pilot. A Convair 240 was sold to Allied Stores of Israel on 18 July. On 12 August, an order with Boeing for two Boeing 720B aircraft was placed. EAL general manager had already brought the idea of acquiring two jet aircraft for long-haul operations up in February, suggesting the Boeing 720B. The Sud SE-210 Caravelle, the de Havilland D.H.106 Comet 4 and the Boeing 720B were all taken into account. Hot and high condition of some EAL operations made the Caravelle inappropriate, whereas the Comet was considered obsolete. The first east-west link made by an African airline started on 8 November, when the Addis Ababa–Accra–Lagos–Monrovia route was launched using DC-6B equipment.
The second fatal accident took place on 5 September 1961 when another DC-3 crashed shortly after takeoff from Sendafar; a flight attendant and four passengers lost their lives in the accident. The event urged the Civil Aviation Department to investigate the accidents. It was found that the lack of infrastructure at many airfields, marginal even for DC-3 operations, was a major contribution. Landing sites at Gore, Mizan Teferi and Tippi were included in the list of airfields that would require closure. On 13 January 1962, the crew and passengers lost their lives in another accident involving a DC-3 ET-T-1, EAL first aircraft of the type—this time the crash taking place at Tippi while the aircraft was taking off. The event prompted the government to decide to close the airfields at both Mizan Teferi and Tippi. In March 1962, more DC-3s were acquired and registered ET-ABE and ET-ABF. During the year, the "ET-T-" registration would change to simply "ET-". Jack B. Asire became general manager in April 1962.
It was also decided to build a new airport to replace the Lideta Airfield, which was unable to accommodate the Boeing 720 jetliner the company intended to acquire. This was the birth of Bole International Airport, where the company set its headquarters.