Ethiopian Won ATW Best Regional Airline in the World Award - 25 February, 2015

Ethiopian Won ATW Best Regional Airline in the World Award - 25 February, 2015 Ethiopian Airlines, the largest and the fastest growing airline in Africa, is pleased to announce that it has won the Best Regional Airline of the Year award among airlines of all regions in the world by Air Transport World (ATW) at the 41st annual Air Transport World Airline Industry Achievement Awards ceremony held in Washington D.C. on 25 February 2015.

The awards, which are among the most coveted in the aviation industry, were created in 1974 to recognise excellence in the sector with the vote of the most renowned journalists of the industry. When accepting the award, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, Tewolde Gebremariam, said:"I would like to thank the ATW Board and management for honoring us with this prestigious award. It is a special privilege for me to accept the award on behalf of the employees, management and the board of Ethiopian Airlines.

The award is above all a testimony of the commitment and dedication of our more than 8,500 employees, who work hard day-in and day-out around the globe to make the airline shine high in the sky. I also thank our valued customers, partners and suppliers for their support in our fast, profitable and sustainable growth strategic road map of vision 2025 which has made us the largest Passenger and Cargo Airline in Africa.

The award encourages us to double our efforts to earn the confidence of all our stakeholders with laser sharp focus on delivering superior customer services." The awards’ judges noted that Ethiopian, which has enjoyed robust growth since the start of the decade and is now the most profitable and largest airline in Africa based on fleet size and passengers flown, has shown outstanding capability in its efficient use of smaller aircraft, skillfully developing markets that are not part of its mainline international airline network.

They also lauded Ethiopian, which topped the six million passenger mark in 2014, for its first-rate safety standards and consistent high standards of customer service. Ethiopian is a Pan-African global carrier operating the youngest fleet in the continent with an average of less than 7 years and currently serving 84 international destinations across 5 continents with over 200 daily departures.

About Ethiopian Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing and most profitable airline in Africa. In 2014, IATA ranked Ethiopian as the largest airline in Africa in revenue and profit. In its operations in the past close to seven decades, Ethiopian has been a pioneer of African aviation as an aircraft technology leader providing the first jet service in the continent in 1962, and availing the first African B767 in 1984, the first African B777-200LR in 2010 and the first African and second only to Japan B787 Dreamliner in 2012.

Ethiopian commands the lion share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 83 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200LR Freighter and Bombardier Q-400 with double cabin.

In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft. Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading airline group in Africa with seven strategic business units: Ethiopian International Passenger Service; Ethiopian Regional Service; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Service and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning, including SKYTRAX and Passenger Choice Awards in 2013 and has been registering an average growth of 25% per annum in the past seven years.