Ethiopian Airlines has disclosed plans to commence operations from Port Harcourt International airport, on 3rd of September 2019, following the closure of Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu.

Recall that on August 24th the federal government shut down Enugu airport for major repairs and work on the airfield.

Speaking to journalist on Thursday, Mesfin Tasew, chief operating officer, Ethiopian Airlines, said the airline dedicated to serve the South East region, hence the plans to shift the Enugu flight to Port Harcourt airport, which will commence on 3rd of September 2019.

Tasew said the airline would continue operating into Port Harcourt until the Enugu airport becomes ready.

Speaking on the patronage for Ethiopia Airlines’ Maintenance Repair Overhaul, (MRO) facility, by Nigerian airlines, the COO said the airline had a huge maintenance capacity and some Nigerian airlines use its facility for aircraft repairs and maintenance.

“First of all, I will like to say that Ethiopian Airlines today has the largest MRO facility in Africa. We repair all Boeing models of aircraft except 747. We also repair the Airbus A350 aircraft, which is the newest Airbus aircraft and the Bombardier Q400 aircraft in Addis Ababa.

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“We have six hangars and a very big engine shop. We have several component repair shops. We have been doing this for several decades now. Primary, it was developed to support operations of Ethiopian Airlines but we are also supporting other African Airlines from different parts of Africa. Today we support several airlines including Asky in Togo and Arik Air in Nigeria,” he explained.

Tasew disclosed that an Arik Q400 aircraft is currently in Addis Ababa for C-check and prior to that, Ethiopian Airlines repaired and maintained several aircraft from Nigeria including the former Air Nigeria, Chachangi and Belview aircraft.

He further said that Ethiopian Airline deployed some of its engineers to support Arik Air.

“We have been looking for a dependable partner to join and establish an MRO facility in Nigeria. We had some discussions earlier with some companies including Aero Contractors, but unfortunately, so far we have not agreed with any one. However, we are still looking for a partner,” he said.

 

IFEOMA OKEKE

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

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