Adewale Sanyaolu, Houston, Texas
Ethiopian Airlines on Tuesday disclosed that talks are ongoing with the Federal Government to secure landing rights for its Lagos – Houston direct flight operations.
Group Chief Executive Officer of the Airline, Mr. Tewolde GabreMariam, disclosed this at a business luncheon organised for the airline by the US Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Houston Airport.
He said previous efforts by the airline to get landing right on its Lagos-Houston direct flight operations from the relevant Federal Government agencies proved abortive after several failed attempts, forcing it to move its West Africa regional hub to Lome, Togo.
GabreMariam said Houston has the largest concentration of Nigerians in the United States with a 250,000 population, making it a win-win situation for the airline and Nigerians in the United States through seamless and hassle- free connection.
The Group CEO said in a bid to serve its customers in Nigeria, the airline was able to secure landing rights in Lome.
‘‘ We will be using Asky Airline which is another airline where we have 40 per cent interest in to convey passengers from Nigeria to Lome, which is a 30- minute flight. From there, we now pick up other passengers to Houston on a direct flight.
“We are still discussing with the Nigerian Government to ensure that we get the landing rights. But in the meantime, Togo will be our hub for the West African market. So our Nigerian passengers should feel free to connect through Lome to the United States.”
Some Nigerians who spoke to Daily Sun at the event expressed disappointment with the Federal Government, saying the denial of the airline landing rights in Lagos was huge loss of revenue to the government.
They worried that Nigeria which prides itself as the giant of Africa could not boost of a national carrier even after spending millions of dollars on the failed Air Nigeria project.
They called on the relevant government authorities to quickly conclude arrangements with the airline by granting it the approval needed to fly directly from Lagos to Houston.
GabrieMariam said the airline has opened up a lot of spaces in the last two years, hoping that the route would be successful due to the efficiency of time management and infrastructure available at the George Bush International Airport, Houston.
GarbrieMariam said the United States and Europe seem to be lagging behind in investing in Africa, saying the Africa continent has a lot of investment opportunities and potential in the continent.
He said investing in Africa has been made seamless by the airline through its flexible interconnectivity to Africa and other parts of the world which is flexible and one of the shortest and fastest in the industry.
Earlier in his remarks, Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.S., Mr. Fitsum Arega, said that Ethiopia had been expanding its network in trade and investment, adding that one of the major reasons why Ethiopian Airlines had to fly to Houston was the presence of large Africans in the city.
Arega said that there are huge opportunities for Ethiopia to strengthen investment opportunities to Houston, adding that with about 110 million population, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in West Africa and one of the fastest growing economy in the world.
“With 10 per cent annual GDP growth with significant reduction of poverty, reforms in the country ,has eased the cost of doing business and private investment participation is now encouraged the country.
International development partners are being supported , Internal multi fund has paid more than five million dollars to support Ethiopian home grown economy.
The newly established U.S. Development Finance Corporation has promised to provide five billion dollars to support America and local businesses to invest in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian government has also made significant investment in the development of industrial schemes for more than 15 industrial parks including the textile park, pharmaceutical park, agro park were being develop while private sector are been encouraged to do same.’’
Also speaking, the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr. Micheal Raynor, said Ethiopian Airlines would promote commerce, trade and investment between the two countries.
Raynor urged business communities in Houston to tap into the new business opportunities opening up across Ethiopia.
He said that the newly inaugurated route would make millions of people connect to Houston and transact business.
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