Ethiopian Air in talks to help Nigeria create a flag-carrier

Ethiopian Air said it’s in discussions to back the Nigerian government’s plans for a new national carrier. Tewolde GebreMariam, Ethiopian’s CEO, will hold talks with a Nigerian minister about the proposal on Tuesday at the Farnborough air show in England, he said in an interview. Nigeria said this month that a new airline would begin operations this year, with the name to be revealed at the expo. Africa’s most populous nation has struggled to support a viable home-grown airline for decades, with a succession of carriers collapsing or slashing routes. Ethiopian Air, by contrast, has become Africa’s only consistently profitable carrier by turning Addis Ababa into a crossroads for travel around the continent and beyond, replicating the hub model of Persian Gulf carriers. The network features about 70 global cities and almost 60 across Africa. Ethiopian Air already owns stakes in Malawi Airlines and Togo-based Asky Airlines and aims to secure equity holdings in new carriers in Zambia, Chad, Mozambique and Guinea by the end of the year while helping to manage existing operators in Equatorial Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo. <br/>