What's new on Ethiopian Airlines in April 2016?

From July 3rd 2016, you can fly thrice a week from Dakar to New York-Newark on the Ethiopian Airlines partner, Asky Airlines via Lomè, Togo. And multiple flights from Dakar to around the world from July 2nd.

 

Asky Airlines flies from Douala to Lome and then other West/Central African cities like Lagos, Dakar, Bangui, Ndjamena, Cotonou, Brazzaville, Abidjan, Niamey, Ouagadougou etc twice a day everyday from Monday to Sunday. The first flight is a morning flight and check in starts at 7.30AM to 9.30AM with departure at 10.00AM. The second flight in the afternoon starts at 15.00 to 17.00 and departs at 17.30. Asky Airlines also offers an opportunity for passengers to travel late at night, with three night stop overs, (meaning the plane which arrives Douala at 18.00 on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays "spends the night" at the airport), for a late night check in that starts at 3.00AM to 5.00AM with take off at 5.30AM. So that makes three flights a day thrice every week and two flights a day, for the rest four days on Asky Airlines.

That will probably not make much sense to a regular passenger who just needs to do a single trip to a west African city and return in maybe two weeks or a month. But if you're a busy corporate figure like a company CEO or director who has to attend a morning or midday meeting in Abidjan today, return to Douala in the evening and jet off to Lagos the next day for another meeting with the intention of returning to Douala that same day, then oooh, Asky Airlines is vintage for you. They're also generally on time despite the demands of such high flight frequencies.That's why they've built a reputation for being "the taxi of West Africa". And its not only that. Since they fly to most West African cities, Asky also acts as a transit carrier for most European Airlines that do not fly to certain cities like Bangui, Ndjamena or Niamey. For instance, if you're a Tchadian, Central African, Nigerien or Burkinabé living in France, you have the possibility of flying to Douala on Air France, then boarding Asky on a second homebound flight to Ouagadougou, Bangui or Niamey etc, the same day and in just a couple of hours.

What about Ethiopian Airlines the parent company itself? Well, they're still flying to 92 destinations on 5 continents all around the world. They're still celebrating 70 years of existence in offices all around the world. And they're still receiving dozens of awards for their excellent services all around the world. Like recently at the 2016 Cargo Airline of the Year Awards at the Lancaster London Hotel, ET was voted African Cargo Airline of the year, for being the biggest cargo operating airline in Africa. (The big soutes of those dreamliners are doing their job). And as if to say, "yeah, we're the best cargo flight in Africa", Ethiopian Cargo is launching new flights to Istanbul and Beirut from April 23rd 2016, to reinforce their Liege and Brussels hubs which are very strategic ones in Europe. Lastly, in a bid to keep expanding at home, Ethiopian Express which is the operational unit of ET handling interior flights in Ethiopia, will be flying four times a week to the city of Hawassa from April 16th.