Ethiopian Cancel Flights, Faces 50% Fall in Domestic Travel Demand
Ethiopian Airlines, the most profitable carrier in Africa, suspends flights to 80 of its 110 destinations as the spread of the coronavirus persists throughout the world, killing over 33,000 people so far.
Announcing a decline of its revenues from local travels by 50Pct, the Airlines continues cargo flights to all of its destinations, a move that is expected to offset part of its losses due to a drastic fall in its revenues from international travels.
Last week, the CEO of Ethiopian, Tewolde Gebremariam, in an interview with Fana Broadcasting Corporation last week, disclosed that his company lost a revenue of USD190 million since the outbreak of COVID-19.
This is a major setback for the company that has registered a gross profit of USD261 million and a total revenues of USD2.1 billion in the first half of the current Ethiopian financial year.
Earlier on March 2020, the International Air Transport Association said coronavirus could cost airlines USD113 billion revenues in 2020. It also disclosed that African airlines lost USD4.4 billion in revenue as of March 11 2020, due to the effects of coronavirus on international travel.
