Sustainability critical for Ethiopian to preserve the globe, comply with all int’l efforts: CEO

Addis Ababa, June 6, 2023 (FBC) – The issue of Sustainability is very important for Ethiopian Airlines from the outlooks of preserving the globe and complying with all international efforts, said Mesfin Tasew, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group.

The CEO is participating in the Annual General Meeting & World Air Transport Summit 2023 of IATA (International Air Transport Association) in Istanbul, Türkiye, which is being held from June 5 to 6.

On the margins of IATA’s annual general meeting, Mesfin highlighted the main priorities for Ethiopian Airlines over the next few years.

“Ethiopian Airlines has a vision to become one of the key players in the global air transport industry. This requires us to grow fast. The airline has a growth strategic roadmap. My role will be to drive the execution of this this growth plan,” he underscored.

“Fast growth means the airline has to add new destinations, expand network, continue modernizing network of fleet, and develop human resources. All these things have to be done in synchronism. So I will have to focus to develop internal capacity that will support the growth of the airline,” the Ethiopian CEO added.

On the importance of sustainability for Ethiopian Airline, Mesfin underlined that it is pivotal to keep the airline’s momentum going.

“Sustainability is very important for Ethiopian Airlines from two perspectives: preserving the globe as one of our key social responsibilities and we have to discharge this responsibility; and we have to comply with all international efforts.”

“We know International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has set a goal for the industry to go to net zero carbon emission and Ethiopian Airlines cannot lag behind. When you talk of sustainability one of the issues is to reduce our carbon footprint and the industry already has recognized that the use of sustainable aviation fuel is one of the methods of complying with this international goal,” he noted.

Mesfin went on to disclose that now they are developing a roadmap to make sure that the airline is moving forward with the utilization of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

However, he emphasized that there are two critical challenges in the industry: “Availability of SAF in Africa and Cost of SAF. SAF is more expensive than the jet fuel.”

In rectifying these challenges, the airline’s chief indicated that they are working with the Ethiopian government to develop policies, procedures, and other incentive packages for companies who can produce SAF in Ethiopia. “So we are closely working with the industry’s stakeholders to make sure that we will get adequate amount of SAF for our flights,” he added.

According to Mesfin, aviation is instrumental for the growth and development across Africa. “Socio-economic development requires free movement of people and goods. Unfortunately, Africa doesn’t have enough roads and railways to support the movement of people and goods.”

He said that the only viable means of transport in Africa today is the air transport. If Africa has to develop fast, the air transport industry has to develop and support the economic development of the continent.

The CEO recalled that African Union recognizes the aviation’s importance to the continent. “In view of this, it developed the initiative of Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) that will facilitate the development of air transport in Africa that will contribute and facilitate the economic development of the continent.”

Finally, he stressed that Ethiopian has been developing air transport in the continent and has been playing its integral role to the development of Africa. “Now, we have a plan to expand our network to provide more services as part of our mission to support the development of Ethiopia and Africa, at large.”