Ethiopian Airlines adds US flights as recovery inches forward

Ethiopian Airlines is beefing up its schedule to the US with additional flights to Washington Dulles, an addition that comes even as its traffic recovery proceeds slower than it expected. The Star Alliance carrier will begin thrice-weekly flights between Dulles and Lomé, Togo, that continue on to its Addis Ababa base in June, Ethiopian US Regional Director Samson Arega said. The flights will complement Ethiopian’s existing daily service to Addis Ababa from Washington. Ethiopian also flies between Chicago O’Hare, Newark, and New York JFK and Addis Ababa. The New York-area routes operate with a stop in Lomé. Lomé is the main base for Ethiopian’s affiliate carrier, Asky Airlines. Ethiopian’s Houston flights, which were suspended after just five months in May 2020, have yet to resume. Arega said the airline plans to return to the Texas city but has no timeline yet. The additional Washington flights come as Ethiopian’s passengers continue to return slowly. Arega said that 70-75% of pre-pandemic passenger traffic has returned, and the airline expects that number to rise as it moves into the peak summer travel season. It forecasts recovering 80-85% of 2019 numbers next year.<br/>