Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is eyeing closer ties with fellow Star Alliance carrier, Singapore Airlines (SQ), as a means of entering the Australian market, airline CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam has disclosed.
Speaking to CAPA on the sidelines of the recently ended 69th IATA AGM held in Cape Town, South Africa, Mr Gebremariam said the possible launch of 787 flights to Singapore would only be rendered viable if there was the possibility of onward connections to Australia. He said that Ethiopian had a late afternoon slot for Changi International which, while good for supporting onward African connections, did not work well for quick onward Australian connections. "Mr Gebremariam said a broader SIA partnership would include SIA placing its code on Ethiopian’s new Singapore service and Ethiopian placing its code on SIA-operated flights to several destinations in Australia. Ethiopian could potentially access Australia via Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, which it already serves, but its preference is to flow Australia-Africa passengers via Singapore."
Source [CAPA]
Ethiopian and Singapore Airlines currently codeshare on the Singapore-Dubai-Addis Ababa route with the Singaporeans operating the Singapore - Dubai sector and Ethiopian operating Dubai - Addis Ababa.