OPENING THE SKIES – ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES STARTS COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS IN SIERRA LEONE WITH A BOEING 787 DREAMLINER AIRCRAFT.
In demonstrating the zest of opening the skies of Sierra Leone to the rest of the world and elucidating President Bio‘s vision for the aviation industry. The Ministry of Transport and Aviation and the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority are pleased to announce that Ethiopian Airlines has in the 31st of May 2024 commenced commercial operations to FNA with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The event at the Freetown International Airport brought together industry stakeholders to witness the beautiful Water Canon salute.
In a press conference, the Minister of Transport and Aviation Fanday Turay welcomed the Vice President of the Ethiopian Airline and his delegates on behalf of the President and the people of Sierra Leone, in his welcoming address, the Minister said; “in the true spirit of Pan- Africanism and a way of demonstrating our commitment to the African Union and African civil aviation commissions zest for single Africa air transport market (SAATAM)” According to the Minister, this air service agreement with the federal republic of Ethiopia was signed five months ago at the ICAO air services negotiations hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2023.
The Minister highlighted Sierra Leone’s remarkable score in both the ICAO security and safety audit in 2019 and 2013, the ICAO safety audit of June 2023 Sierra Leone stands at 72% of effective implementation and 71% in terms of aviation security. He added that
the FNA is literally 5 to 6 hours away from South America, and therefore most strategically placed for the West African market and beyond. He climaxed his speech with words of gratitude to the board and management of Ethiopian Airlines for choosing Freetown as one of the new destinations and assured them of the best hospitality in Mama Salone
The Vice President of Ethiopian Airlines Mr. Hailemelekot Mamo, expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome as they landed with B787 in Freetown with 100 passengers on board who were very happy that they had a direct flight out of Addis Ababa. Mr Mamo emphasized that “We would like to bring Sierra Leone the service, we would like to indicate that we are here to provide services for our African brothers and that the objective is to bring service, to connect the world, to connect Africa to the rest of the world, not to wait for too many hours fly out and to come in but rather to fly as quick as possible to the rest of the world”
Joined in welcoming Ethiopian Airlines, Minister of Tourism, Nabeela Tunis expressed that this is an exploration of freedom and connectivity, and as a sector working within government, they will provide the tools that they need to ensure the movement is productive and profitable. For her, it is a pleasing and interesting sight as the Ethiopian Airline packed by SN Brussels sends a clear message to the entire world that Sierra Leone is connected, it’s connected beyond our imagination.
Director General Musayeroh Barrie sees this as an actualisation of one of her promises upon taking office to liberalise the skies of Sierra Leone by ensuring more flights in the country. toeing the line with the Minister, Madam Barrie mentioned that, it had been a busy 6 months of engagement to bring the Ethiopian Airlines to Sierra Leone and she is looking forward to many more events as such going forward.
Welcoming the Ethiopian Airlines is a testament to the fact that with sincerity of purpose and commitment, we can achieve a lot as Africans and Sierra Leone is currently a shining star to how far the people and country can go if they put the necessary work into it. Sierra Leone is the 56th destination African nation, connecting Africa within itself, is expected to receive three weekly passenger flights to Freetown, Sierra Leone, with a stop-over in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in actualising the motto as trues spirit of bringing Africa together and beyond. This new route will ease travellers’ discomfort and it will give options to the travelling public as this is what the President, Dr. Julius Madda Bio, is seeking. The Director General is optimistic about a brighter future in the aviation industry
