Story by: Xinhua for New China | Photography by: Xinhua/Michael Tewelde
(Above) File photo shows passengers make dumplings during the welcoming reception organized by the Ethiopian Airlines at Bole International Airport in AddisAbaba, capital of Ethiopia, Jan. 25, 2016. The event took place on Monday as passengers from different African countries were traveling to China for the Chinese New Year.
ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Ethiopia’s national carrier Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is eyeing a bigger share of the Chinese tourists’ market which at more than 120 million is estimated to be the single largest tourist numbers globally.
Speaking exclusively to Xinhua on Saturday, Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of ET, said with the air carrier having a presence in China since 1973, one of the handful foreign airlines pioneers at the time, it has been a witness to the economic transformation of the Asian giant.
Chinese tourists tend to stay longer and spend more.
“Today, China is the single largest market for Ethiopian Airlines with 5 destinations and 31 total weekly flights,” he said, adding that ET has the largest market share on flights between China and Africa, employing dozens of Chinese nationals as cabin crew members in its flight to China.
Ethiopian Airlines currently flies to Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. It has also announced plans to start flights at an unspecified date to Shenzhen dubbed the “Silicon Valley” of China for its tech-savvy entrepreneurial nature.
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