Fly Ethiopia: More Options via Singapore

Australians travelling to Ethiopia now have more options with Ethiopian Airlines resuming flight services to Singapore Changi Airport after a hiatus due to Covid-19. Voted “Best Airline in Africa” for five consecutive years[1], Ethiopian Airlines currently operates four weekly services between Singapore and Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Passengers will be able to choose from a two-class configuration on 270-seat Boeing 787-8 aircrafts used on the service.

Singapore Changi Airport is frequently used by Australians to transfer to other parts of the world. As one of the largest international gateways to Australia[2], Changi Airport connects Singapore to eight Australian cities with over 200 weekly services. The cities are Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney.

The resumption of the African link to Singapore via Ethiopian Airlines will allow Changi Airport to serve as a key transfer point for passengers travelling between Australia and Africa. Ethiopian Airlines currently codeshares with Singapore Airlines for flights between Australia and Singapore, and has interline arrangements with Qantas Airways and Jetstar (see more details in annex). Between 2015 and 2019, passenger traffic between Australia and Africa registered steady growth of 11%, registering 560,000 passengers in 2019.

Mr Lim Ching Kiat, CAG’s Executive Vice President of Air Hub and Cargo Development said, “We are thrilled to welcome Ethiopian Airlines to Changi Airport again. Ethiopian Airlines has been consistently voted as the Best Airline in Africa, and the network from its Addis Ababa hub connects with more than 60 destinations on the African continent. The flight between Singapore and Ethiopia will offer more travel options for passengers who are making frequent trips between Australia and Africa using Singapore as a transfer point, for business travels or visiting family and friends.”

Mr Mesfin Tasew, Ethiopian Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer said, “We are delighted to resume our service to Singapore, which was suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The flight will further expand our network in Asia and create air connectivity for Australian passengers travelling to Africa. The new flight will facilitate trade, investment, and tourism ties between Africa and the region, including Australia. In line with our plan for growing our network around the world, we will keep on opening new routes to enhance connectivity between Africa and the rest of the world via Addis Ababa.”

Ethiopian Airlines’ services via Changi Airport are in this schedule:

Ethiopian Airlines had been operating its passenger services to Changi Airport from June 2017 to March 2020. While it suspended its services due to the pandemic and border closures, it continued to operate ad-hoc Passenger Aircraft Carrying Cargo services.