The Ethiopian Airlines has received the “African Cargo Airline of the Year” award from the 2017 Air Cargo Africa Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
A statement by the airline on Wednesday in Abuja said that Air Cargo Africa 2017 was organised by STAT Media Group in celebration of excellence in the Aviation industry.
The winners were selected through two rounds of online polling by worldwide readers of the magazine.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, commended the readers of STAT Trade Times across the globe, who voted the airline.
“ I would like to thank them all for their strong vote of confidence, which reiterates Ethiopian efficient global cargo service.
“The credit for this prestigious recognition goes to our strong workforce, especially, I would like to congratulate our cargo team for the job well done.
GebreMariam said the Ethiopian Cargo had been growing at a very fast pace and would continue to do so.
He added that the airline had built a new cargo terminal in order to support its planned growth and to make Addis Ababa one of the best cargo hubs in Africa.
According to him, Ethiopian Airline has built a new Cargo Terminal which can accommodate 600,000 tonnes per annum at a total cost of 115 million dollars.
“The new Terminal 2 combined with the existing Terminal 1 will give a total tonnage capacity of 1 million per annum.
“Moreover, this year alone, Ahmedabad, São Paulo, and Orlando will join our global cargo network.
“Ethiopian Cargo serves 36 freighter destinations operating the longest range twin-engine freighter aircraft in the world, 6 B777-200 LR freighters as well as 2 B757F with a capacity of 103 and 35 tonnes respectively.
“Ethiopian Airline was recently named the “Airline of the Year”, for the fifth consecutive year, by African Airlines Association (AFRAA), SkyTrax World Airline Award for Best Airline Staff in Africa.
“It also won the Best African Cargo Airline of the Year Award, and Passenger Choice Award for Best Airline in Africa,’’ he said. (NAN)