Air Congo to debut with 10 aircraft in late 4Q21

Air Congo – the new joint venture between Ethiopian Airlines and the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo – is to debut in early December with a fleet of 10 aircraft comprising a mixed fleet of turboprops, narrowbodies, and wide-bodies, says Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde GebreMariam. “We just signed [an agreement] with the government of DRC, which owns 51% of the airline and 49% is with us. The fleet will comprise DHC-8-Q400s, Boeing B737s, and two B787s,” he said. Ethiopian would provide all the necessary equipment, management, and operational support to get the new airline off the ground, he said, including aircraft, pilots, technicians, and leadership. “We have the AOC, the aircraft," Tewolde added without specifying whether the AOC is a greenfield document or an existing one with an existing airline. While the DRC – the third-largest population in Africa with 100m inhabitants – presented a significant market opportunity for Ethiopian, the real driver for the venture was not the return on investment. “It is to support our hub Addis Ababa,” he disclosed. “We want to expand inter-African routes further because the connectivity [within the continent] is still not well. Ethiopian Airlines is like the Lufthansa Group of Africa,” he said.<br/>