ETHIOPIAN Airlines hasn’t
yet launched its direct
flights to Durban but
is already speaking about
increasing frequency on the
route to double-daily once “the
people of Durban have got to
know our services”.
Mengistu Adelahu, Ethiopian
Airlines’ manager of traffic and
sales for Durban, addressed
the travel and tourism trade
at a recent event in Durban.
He said the airline would
initially operate a B738 on the
Durban route, which launches
on December 16, but that the
airline planned to introduce a
Dreamliner on the route in the
future.
Mengistu expects most
travellers from Durban to
connect to other destinations
in the Gulf, the Far East
and India. The airline offers
more than 21 weekly flights
to India via its Addis Ababa
hub. “Although connections
to most parts of the world
are excellent, with very short
connecting times, if a traveller
has a long layover, the airline
will automatically provide
stopover packages as well as
visas,” he said.
Perry Moodley, project
manager of Durban Tourism,
said the city was working
closely with a few international
airlines to put Durban on
the map. Besides Ethiopian,
Perry said fastjet planned to
launch flights between Harare,
Zimbabwe and Durban and
that Norwegian Airlines would
launch Gatwick to Durban.
“More airlines are still to be
announced but we can’t speak
about that yet,” he teased.
Ethiopian has big plans for Durban
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