A once sleepy African airport is now bustling with flights and passenger traffic as China and Ethiopian Airlines add 8 direct flights between the two destinations.
Air travel changes with the times. The improvement in flight frequency between the two continents marks a breakthrough in airline modernization when Beijing and other African regions averaged just one flight a day.
The rising volume of passenger flights between China and the African region corresponds with China's booming investment. Chinese companies have been aggressively betting on and winning infrastructure contracts in Africa.
China's major developers have been a key factor in the building of airports in Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, Togo, Mozambique, and the Republic of Congo, among others in the past years.
Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport (BIA) operates a big chunk of air traffic today between China and Africa. The unveiling of a new terminal - financed and developed by China to the tune of $364 million - has tripled the city's capacity this year.
As funding continues to flow in Addis Ababa, so do the number of passengers. The number of commercial planes serving the China-Africa route can now fly more than 850,000 passengers every year.
Ethiopian Airlines plays a major role in increasing flights. The airlines did not have a single route to China in 2010. Today, Ethiopian Airlines serves nearly 50% of the route's 2,617 yearly flights, doubling the volume of its operations in the last 10 years, and emerging as the biggest airline company in Africa.
According to Ethiopian Air's spokesperson Asrat Begashaw, Chinese passengers form the biggest part of the airliner's clients, with daily flights to Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, on top of a thrice-weekly route to Chengdu. Ethiopian Airlines has announced it will add three more destinations to China this year.
Whether it be pouring out more cash to boost ground operations and air travel in general, Ethiopia and Chinese tourism officials are both optimistic that flight frequency between the two regions will soar rapidly. The figures don't lie: Africa's airline market accounted for less than 3% of the world's air traffic last year.
On Thursday, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde Gebremariam the company is looking into adding the C919 passenger aircraft of China to its current air fleet. Speaking to Xinhua, Gebremariam said Ethiopian Airlines has created a joint body with Chinese investors to monitor the progress of C919 commercial jets.
