Ethiopian Airlines has confirmed that it will introduce the only scheduled non-stop link to the Canadian city of Toronto from Africa this summer when it launches flights between Addis Ababa and Lester B Pearson International Airport in the Canadian city. The African carrier will offer a twice weekly service from July 16, 2012 using a Boeing 777-200LR configured for 34 passengers in its Cloud Nine Business Class and 287 more in Economy.
Due to the current restrictive bilateral between Ethiopia and Canada, the Star Alliance member is restricted to offering just the two frequencies per week but it has plans to add further flights as soon as it can gain approval to boost capacity on the long-haul route.
"It has been our vision to connect Toronto with our hub, Addis, and to the rest of the world. Now, Ethiopian is committed to start services to the exciting market of Toronto twice a week, introducing a new route between Africa and Canada,” said Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines. “By adding Toronto to our network, Ethiopian reinforces the ties between Canada and Ethiopia enhancing trade and investment.”
Toronto will be Ethiopian’s 67th international destination and second in the Americas after Newark Liberty International in the US. This new flight will also boost global connectivity between Toronto and over a dozen cities in Africa via Ethiopian’s hub at Addis Ababa, including such destinations as Johannesburg, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Kigali, Lusaka, Bujumbura, the Seychelles, Douala, Kinshasa, and Harare. Meanwhile, additional flight options will be provided by partner carrier Air Canada from Toronto to destinations across Canada and the US.
In the past year around 19,000 O&D passengers travelled between Ethiopia and Canada with the demand to Toronto estimated to be 7,000 travellers with approximately 1,000 more connecting on in the Canadian city to other destinations. Around a fifth of the O&D passengers between Addis Ababa and Toronto currently use Ethiopian Airlines’ existing flight to Newark, but there are also large flows with Turkish Airlines (THY) via Istanbul and KLM via Amsterdam.
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