Firiehiwot Mekonnen is the general manager, Nigeria for Ethiopian Airlines. In this interview with Ifeoma Okeke, she speaks about the airline’s unique selling points, its air service to Los Angeles and plans for the Nigerian market, amongst other issues.
What is your partnership structure with Los Angeles Tourism Board for this new route that you just started?
The thing is Los Angeles has been one of our routes for more than three years; it is just a route change. It used to go via Island Dublin, so we changed the route to via Lome, Togo so that we can give more convenience, more comfort and more short connectivity to all our West African passengers. As you know, we have a code share agreement with Asky Airlines, so all West Africa passengers can come to Lome within an hour or less and enjoy their flight. When it was via Island it used to be a very long distance, now that they are departing from Lome, which is from West Africa, the flight is now shorter. So it has been there already. The only thing is the route change which will make it more convenient, shorter and comfortable for the customer.
Since this is your first flight on the route change, were you impressed by the passenger traffic?
Yes, we are impressed. You know that it is Christmas season and New Year holiday, so most passengers are coming into the country for holiday, so the traffic is heavier on the incoming flight which is to West Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. So the flight that we are going in is fully booked for both economy and business class. So it is a really promising sector in terms of traffic.
What advantages are there for a passenger from Nigeria through ET that will make him or her not take Delta Airline that flies directly to the US or Emirate Airlines or any other airline?
The first thing that will convince you to take an Ethiopian airline is the short distance. You don’t have to go via Europe or via Middle East to come to the U.S. You are just going to fly only half an hour flight from Nigeria to Lome and then direct to Los Angeles. There is even no technical stopover. The other thing is that the aircraft that we are using is a very new and modern aircraft and most importantly, we are giving Africans flavoured service. We are also giving a five star service but we are charging a fair price. Just because we have a fair price doesn’t mean that our service is not that much, we are giving the best service but we are charging a fair price.
Looking at your operations in Lagos, what is your evaluation of the market?
The operation in general is okay, things are getting better and the economy and the market are getting better. The competition is also getting stiffer and stronger since more foreign airlines are coming in. But it is good that the market is growing and the Ethiopian airport has taken over from Dubai as the biggest gate for Africa, and the Lagos market contributes to that.
What impact do you think your new service and new aircraft have made in getting more passengers?
Yes it has great impact in a positive way because the new aircraft that we have is modern, more comfortable and more cost effective.
Do you think there are exceptional services Ethiopian Airlines has provided to make people realise that it offers as much good service as any other highbrow airline operating into Nigeria?
One thing that has made a difference for Ethiopian Airlines and has made people realise that Ethiopian Airlines is as good as the big giant carriers are the fleet that we have, our destinations and more importantly, the connections. The connections that we have to the Middle East, Asia and even the United States are very short. We are also building another terminal which gives more comfort and more convenience for the passengers who are in transit. So the impact that we have has been our aircraft, the connectivity, the products that we offer and our increased frequencies to most of the destinations. So it has impacted a lot in being one of the biggest carriers.
Ethiopian Airlines is known as Africentric, it builds its market around Africa. Do you at any time feel threatened that such market could be eroded by other carriers from other parts of the world?
As it is known, the African market is already dominated by foreign carriers than Africans. Right now, African carriers dominate only 20percent of the market. The only way we can overcome or have an improved figure is by being together and supporting each other. Ethiopian Airlines does not feel threatened. The only way out for African carriers is when all African countries can come together and defend the continent and then I believe that there will be no threat.
There has always been this criticism that Ethiopian airlines is taking over everywhere, the question now is why is it that you build you hub in Lome when majority of your passengers are coming from Nigeria?
We would love to have a hub in Nigeria. We have already made a proposal to the Federal government of Nigeria that we are willing to partner with them to build a national carrier. Nigeria is a giant of Africa be it in economy or in population, so we will be happy to partner with Nigeria and establish a strong national carrier which can defend Africa as a continent. I believe that if Nigeria has a strong national carrier, the number that we see can be changed in a great way. So why we have a second hub in Lome is because the Togolese allowed us and they are willing to partner with us. So as long as Nigeria is willing to partner with us, we will be happy to have another hub in Nigeria.
There is criticism that you are operating from Kaduna even though you have stopped, were you doing it to respond to the yearnings of the government?
The criticism that Ethiopian Airlines is flying everywhere in Nigeria should not have been criticism but it should have been compliment because we are giving convenience to the passengers. A passenger wants to fly from Enugu, if there is no international carrier in Enugu, the passenger may have to spend a night and then get a hotel accommodation. So there is a lot of cost attached to it. On top of that, when you look at it in terms of time and convenience, we are creating the convenience that has never been there. If you look at the Kaduna route, we were creating convenience. If you look at Kano, it is the same thing. The question you are asking me is if we are really making profit. I can guarantee that most of the Nigerian destinations are not that much profitable because of the competition. The price that used to be charged two years ago is still the price that we are charging now. So it is not because we are making profit everywhere, it is because we are creating convenience that has never been. So this should have come as a compliment instead of the criticism. There is no carrier that has asked to fly to Enugu and has been rejected, I don’t believe that. But we are flying there and a lot of passengers are really happy about that.
Will you be willing partner with any Nigerian flag carrier?
Of course, in fact we are looking at any other kind of partnership with Nigerian carriers because that is how we can defend Africa, by being together. So the partnership can be in Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO), or in other kind of technical services. So we are looking to see a partnership coming up between a Nigerian carrier and Ethiopian Airlines. We are willing to support in anyway, as long as it is going to help the Nigerian carriers grow and become strong. So we are willing to partner with any Nigerian carrier.
Let us look at competition among African airlines, when you built the Lome hub, South Africa went to Ghana trying to build a kind of hub and they are now partnering with Africa World Airlines, (AWA) to the US. Do you think you people can talk and share the market in a way that it will be profitable for everybody? How does that affect your market in West Africa?
It is not affecting our market actually. As I mentioned, Africa is big enough for everybody as long as we work together to regain our market share. Sometimes what we don’t know is that you can even create a market that was not there. So the best thing is to solicit a new market and create awareness. I believe that if there is money, people can spend it. Most of the time what they don’t know is how to spend it. Africa is big enough for everybody and as you know, we are also in partnership with Ghana to establish the national carrier.
On Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), I found out that some countries feel that Ethiopia would erode their market if they join the SAATM, so is Ethiopia finding it difficult to convince these countries that this is better for Africa?
I think it is the responsibility of everybody to convince each other that this will help Africa to grow and strengthen the market and the economy. When that is applicable, everybody is going to benefit from it. Of course it is a little difficult right now to convince them but once they get to know how beneficial it will be for Africa, and the country, I am sure they will understand it. That is the only way that we can get back our market share as African carriers.
