Tl;dr – The African carrier is close to finalizing a new route that would help expand its global presence while also increasing connectivity within Africa for Oceania-based travelers.
Ethiopian Airlines, one of Africa’s most successful carriers, is planning an exciting new venture: service from Addis Ababa to Australia. The airline is said to have been choosing between three routes for its initial venture: Addis Ababa–Sydney, Addis Ababa–Brisbane, and Addis Ababa–Melbourne.
Though this is not entirely set in stone (and there are no firm dates to mention here), Addis Insights suggests that Melbourne is the likely choice as “Ethiopian Airlines executives are reportedly in advanced discussions with Melbourne Airport officials and are making detailed operational preparations for the launch.”
The airline is reportedly considering the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 to serve the chosen long-haul route.
This would be a pretty cool development to see come to fruition – ambitious yes – though also sensible for Ethiopian Airlines. It’s a venture that would also make travel throughout the rest of Africa much more achievable for Oceania based passengers.
The Ethiopian diaspora is a strong one globally, and though ties between Ethiopia and Australia have come about more recently, they are no exception to this rule. There are reportedly between 20,000 and 30,000 people of Ethiopian nationality/heritage/descent living in Australia, with Melbourne holding the largest population.
For an Oceania-based traveler looking to connect elsewhere in Africa, this new route could also be clutch. Though three of the major Gulf carriers, and course, everyone’s favorite Turkish Airlines, all operate direct flights to/from Australia with onward connecting service to several African destinations, none of those operators has nearly as extensive a cross-African network as Ethiopian Airlines.
