Ethiopian Airlines looking in to stakes with Rwandan and Congo carriers

Ethiopian Airlines is in discussions with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to purchase stakes in their carriers and manage them, reports Reuters.

Chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam, said: "Right now, we have a technical agreement with Rwandair and we manage the technical maintenance of their fleet. We are going to expand that to a commercial and equity partnerships. We are also in discussions with the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam

Analyst Saj Ahmad commented: “Ethiopian Airlines is an aberration for Africa. It's one of the most modern, efficient and well-run success stories and it's no surprise that they want to expand and increase their regional presence by taking stakes in rival airlines in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“Rwandair too has been harnessing the steady growth of passengers but Ethiopian Airlines clearly sees an avenue here for further expansion of their network that would equally complement its own regional and international footprint as well as that of the DRC.”

Ahmad added: “Ethiopian Airlines has expanded across the Middle East, Africa and China in recent years and the carrier is keen to take its management skills to other airlines and bolster its growing global connectivity while laying the groundwork for future jet orders such as the possibility of the 777-9X to reach cities across the USA and Latin America to complement its network of 102 destinations. Given that the DRC and Rwanda have limited capacity to grow organically, both countries would probably seek a tie up with Ethiopian Airlines rather than trade competitive blows and likely lose out financially to Ethiopian's superiority.”