Branding Aviation: Ethiopian Airlines

May 28, 2020     africa / African Union / Air Canada / Airline / cargo / Culture / Ethiopia / Ethiopian Airlines / Export / Government / Hotels / import / investment / Jobs / restaurants / Singapore Airlines / Star Alliance / tour / Tourism / Transportation / United Airlines

Country branding is a multilayered approach which requires cross-cultural branding as the aim is to brand the country to improve national reputation, increase product value and enhance the national brand. In the aviation industry, Ethiopian Airlines (ETA) stands as not only Ethiopia’s brand but also as one of the African Brands that is a symbol of pride and economic viability. Ethiopian Airlines contenders such as Royal Air Maroc  ( country branding for Morocco) and Kenya Airways ( Branding Kenya) are also key players due to their regular routes to Europe, North America and other key destinations, bringing tourists, trade, and cargo. In this global health crisis, given ETA’s capacity, Ethiopia has emerged as the hub for Africa ‘s medical transport and shipment and a key transit hub for the shipment of much sought-after medical equipment to Latin America.

ETA’s Growth

The state-owned carrier, Ethiopian Airlines was founded on December 30, 1945 by Emperor Haile Selassie as a joint-venture with a now-defunct American carrier Trans World Airlines (TWA), using a fleet of ex-US military C-47 Skytrains that were leftover from World War II.  It commenced operations on April 8, 1946, with a weekly service between Addis Ababa and Cairo with five Douglas DC-3 propeller-driven aircraft. Since its inception, Ethiopian Airlines has served 53 international destinations with 157 weekly international departures from Addis Ababa and a total of 410 weekly international departures worldwide. Even during this global health crisis that has crippled the airline industry, Ethiopian Airlines has been playing a critical role during this COVID-19 crisis.

Having survived Ethiopia’s political change for decades, Ethiopian Airlines went from survival mode to thriving in the mid-2000s. In 2005, the airline made global headlines when it announced that it would be the launch carrier for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, placing a $1.3 billion order for 15 of the fuel-efficient, long-range aircraft. Furthermore, Ethiopian Airlines signed code-share agreements with Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines (SINGF) and Asiana Airlines. In 2011, the carrier joined the Star Alliance, which includes United Airlines (UAL), Air Canada and Singapore Airlines. ETA generates billions of dollars in annual revenue, with its fleet growing to 111 of mainly new planes, and has carried approximately 11 million passengers in 2019.

Ethiopia’s Tourism Potential via ETA

Like many African countries with its uniqueness and richness, Ethiopia’s tourism potential is largely untapped and should be of enormous interest to foreign and local visitors on historic, cultural, or eco-tourism expeditions. With ETA direct flights from various countries, it makes Ethiopia an ideal place for visitors. It has a diversity of wildlife (with many unique indigenous plant, bird, and mammal species), exotic landscapes, prehistoric sites, and architectural ruins of historical and religious significance. The growth of ETA is linked to the economic development of the country as it caters to visitors and transit passengers coming to or passing through Ethiopia for business and/or pleasure. Ethiopia’s potential to reach a high volume of transit passengers transferring through Bole International Airport to global and regional destinations, has created the need for increased international standard accommodation near the airport. As an aviation powerhouse and an unconventional brand, Ethiopian Airlines has acquired stakes in the national airlines of neighboring countries, and unveiled plans to build a mega-airport south of Addis Ababa, which could handle 80 million passengers a year — the same volume as Heathrow in London.

“Ethiopia’s tourism industry, as the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently announced it aims to triple the number of foreign visitors, to more than 2.5 million, by 2020”

Ethiopia’s airline brand tops the list with 30 flights to destinations on the continent as only five countries have direct flights to more than 20 other African nations, according to the African Union. The African Union also estimates that if just 12 key Africa countries opened their markets, 155,000 jobs would be created along with a combined $1.3 billion in additional gross domestic product each year for those nations. Today, the airline also operates Africa’s largest aviation academy, where pilots, ground staff, maintenance technicians and cabin crew from across the continent come to train.

Today’s Aviation Realities

The current global health crisis has impacted the aviation industry as the international aviation industry claimed to have lost $52 billion, with Africa losing $4.2 billion. Many African airlines such Air Mauritius, South African Airways, South African Express, and South Africa’s Comair have all already gone under administration. Although insufficient relief have been extended, several airports in the Seychelles, Ghana, Namibia, and other nations have received assistance or have been given tax breaks by governments. Moreover, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) praised the African Development Bank for providing $10 billion in relief funds as well as the African Union for the $12.5 million. It also celebrated the African Union for persuading member states to each assign $4.5 million to help the aviation industry.

The IATA released updated analysis showing that the COVID-19 crisis will see airline passenger revenues drop by $314 billion in 2020. Nevertheless, between 2019 and 2038, the number of airline passengers is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6 percent.

Branding Aviation is vital and we are here to provide strategies, Brand marketing and ICT services for cross-cultural branding.

Contact us