Ethiopian Airlines Celebrates 25 Years of Flying to USA

Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest airline brand, is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the start of its services to the United States of America.

Ethiopian connected Africa with the US for the first time in June 1998 with its cross-Atlantic flights to Washington D.C., the capital city and federal district of the United States.  

Ethiopian and the US aviation industry share an impressive relationship that dates back to the 1940s when the airline was founded in December 1945, in partnership with Trans World Airlines (TWA). In the years since then, Ethiopian has been a proud partner to American aviation firms including Boeing and GE Aerospace. 

Sending his congratulatory message on the Anniversary, Mr. Mesfin Tasew, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO said, “We are pleased to mark this milestone and celebrate the 25th Anniversary of our successful services to the US. Ethiopian has become a pioneer African flag carrier by starting services to Washington D.C., in June 1998.

Our flights have been instrumental in facilitating trade and businesses, promoting tourism, and strengthening socio-economic ties between Africa and the US. Ethiopian now is connecting the US with Africa direct from Addis Ababa, Lomé, and Abidjan cities.

We are indebted to the US Government and our aviation partners for the mutually beneficial cooperation that lasts over the past 75 years of our journey. As the US will always remain a significant part of our strategic expansion plan, we will continue connecting the US with the African market to enhance cooperation between the two regions.”

Commending Ethiopian's role of availing connectivity services, Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia said, “Our two countries, and our aviation sectors, share a long and unique history. In 1945, African-American pilot Colonel John C. Robinson traveled to  Ethiopia to train pilots and to help organize the country’s national airline.

Ethiopian Airlines now connects Ethiopia to the rest of the African continent and the world. With the start of direct flight service to the United States in 1998, flying U.S.-manufactured aircraft, Ethiopian Airlines has provided a vital link between the United States, Ethiopia, and Africa, and that link has grown stronger as the number of direct flights to the United States has grown.

The U.S. government is invested in strengthening people-to-people and two-way trade and investment ties between Ethiopia and the United States, and Ethiopian Airlines has been an essential part of realizing those goals.” 

Ethiopian, the best African Airline, has been successfully connecting the US with its more than 60 African destinations for the past 25 years. The airline transported more than half a million passengers to and from the US only from June 2022- May 2023.

As a pan-African airline committed to bringing Africa together and closer to the world, Ethiopian will continue to enhance the connectivity between the US and Africa. 

Currently, Ethiopian Airlines flies to over 150 passenger and cargo destinations including six in the US: five passenger services to Washington D.C., New York, Newark, Chicago, and Atlanta as well as a cargo service to Miami. In total, Ethiopian operates 30 weekly flights to the US.