News – Tuesday 6^th June 2006

Ethiopian Airlines begins flights to Brussels

Ethiopia’s national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, has launched a thrice-weekly service from Addis Ababa to Brussels. The first flight departed at 20:20 GMT Monday night, arriving in Zaventem Airport in the Belgium capital at 05:55 GMT on Tuesday, carrying guests from Addis Ababa as well as Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  The Belgium Ambassador to Ethiopia, Fredric Regard, was the guest of honour.

Ethiopian Airlines plans to initially fly three times a week, departing Belgium on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays via Paris, in addition to its daily cargo flights, with return flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Brussels is now the seventh European destination for Ethiopian Airlines and the forty-seventh destination worldwide.

In April earlier this year, the airline, which employs more than 4,700 people and carries more than 1.5 million passengers a year, celebrated its 60^th anniversary.

ENDS