Ethiopian Airlines studies helping African national start-ups

Ethiopian Airlines is in talks with the govts of Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda with a view to assisting them in establishing new national carriers. The carrier’s CE Tewolde Gebremariam says it has submitted formal proposals to all 4 countries and that some of these “are at an advanced stage”. Gebramariam says the discussions are heavily influenced by the strategy being adopted by each govt such as “what type of airline they want, what type of routes, and what type of co-operation, joint venture, equity [they want]”. He adds: “So in our case we are open to all kinds of cooperation because we really want them to develop their national airlines.” Ghana, Uganda and Zambia do not currently have state-owned airlines, while Zimbabwe is served by Air Zimbabwe which began operations in 2013. <br/>