EAL resumes flights to Senegal, to begin service to Gabon

By SSI staff writer

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- Ethiopian Airlines (EAL) has announced that it has resumed flights to Senegal following a brief interruption of flights to the West African nation.
A spokesperson for the airlines told SSI that the resumption of the flights was because of improved networking and growing demands of the airlines’ services in the region.
The airline is set to resume direct services to Dakar, Senegal, on March 26, 2006, initially serving Dakar four times a week (flying Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays) via Lomé and Abidjan, with next day return flights.
And from June 2006, EAL plans to serve Dakar daily with the additional flights via Ndjamena and Bamako.
In related news, the airline is set to start flights to Libreville, Gabon effective March 28, 2006.
EAL will serve Libreville three times a week, on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with same day return flights.
Subsequently, EAL’s Addis Ababa-Libreville service will be enhanced by additional Wednesday operations from June 03, 2006.
It is to be remembered that EAL has been looking into West Africa to establish a West African hub for the national carrier.
One of the steps the airlines took to get a market hold in the region included the buying of shares of Ghana Airways.
Bole International Airport, home for the airline, has just inaugurated its facilities in Dakar, a city with over one million inhabitants that is a regional center to many international organizations and multinational companies in West Africa.
Trade and tourism are thriving in Senegal. According to a press release from EAL the new service has been carefully designed to provide business executives, tourists and pilgrims to and from Senegal direct links with Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Lome, Ndijamena and Bamako, and convenient connections to the rest of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and vice-versa.
The flight to Libreville is intended to meet the demands for services from businessmen, traders, visitors, tourists and pilgrims to and from Gabon.
When the service becomes operational, it will provide a direct link to Addis Ababa and Douala, and convenient connections to the rest of Africa, Europe the Middle East, Asia, and vice-versa.
According to the press release, Ethiopian flights to Libreville will bring Gabon closer to the world and will further catalyze and boost economic, social and religious relationships.