Summary
- Ethiopian Airlines has finally increased Toronto flights.
- It means it plans 37 weekly departures to North America this summer across seven routes.
- The carrier plans to add more US and Canadian destinations, with Denver, Minneapolis, Seattle, Houston, and potentially Montreal seemingly coming.
Ethiopian Airlines has increased Addis Ababa to Toronto flights from five weekly to daily. It follows the December 2023 loosening of the Ethiopia-Canada bilateral air service agreement that governs traffic rights and market access. Toronto is the carrier’s third North American route to be served daily.
Toronto grows
Taking effect from April 1st (no joke), Ethiopian will finally operate each day to Canada’s most populous city. While a rise of two weekly services may not seem much, it is an important step in the carrier’s North American development.
In November, Ethiopian’s Chief Commercial Officer, Lemma Yadecha Gudeta, told me he is keen to increase Toronto flights to daily. Now it has, helping with competitiveness and market share.
To Daily: Loosened Bilateral Enables Canadian Flight Growth For Ethiopian Airlines
Toronto can finally rise to daily, but what about Montreal?
Operated by the two-class, 348-seat Airbus A350-900, Toronto is scheduled as follows, with all times local. It is among two-thirds of Ethiopian’s North American flights that leave Addis late at night and return early the following morning. This is to maximize connections across the vast African continent.
- Addis-Rome: ET552, 23:00-04:20+1 (6h 20m block)
- Rome-Toronto: ET552, 05:20-08:50 (9h 30m)
- Toronto-Addis: ET553, 11:00-07:00+1 (13h)
Image: GCMAP
As you probably know, the outbound departure stops in Rome is to refuel and to change crew; there is no fifth freedom traffic rights. The stop is necessary due to Addis’s renewed high elevation, which reduces aircraft performance with a decent payload. It previously flew via Rome, switched to Dublin, and reverted to the Italian capital due to a better deal and more payload capability, improving route performance.
37 weekly flights next summer
As of January 2nd and subject to change, Ethiopian presently plans seven US and Canadian passenger routes with a maximum of 37 weekly flights (each way). Analysis of schedules using OAG data shows that this is a record. In summer 2023, the highest was 35 weekly and ‘just’ 24 in summer 2019. A decade ago, it had only 10.
Photo: Oleh Yatskiv | Shutterstock
Its network is as follows. Two routes stop in Lomé, Togo, which enables passengers to connect across Western and Central Africa with Ethiopian’s partner ASKY.
- Daily: Addis-Washington Dulles (via Rome outbound, non-stop back); 777-300ER, 777-200LR
- Daily: Addis-Chicago (via Rome out, non-stop back); 787-8
- Daily: Addis-Toronto (via Rome out, non-stop back); A350-900
- Five weekly: Addis-Newark (via Lomé in both directions); 787-8
- Four weekly: Addis-Atlanta (via Rome out, non-stop back); 787-9
- Four weekly: Addis-New York JFK (via Abidjan in both directions); 787-8
- Three weekly: Addis-Washington Dulles (via Lomé in both directions); 787-8
All in the time
Routes like Toronto that stop in Rome leave Addis late at night and return early. In contrast, those operating via West Africa leave between 08:35 and 09:00 and return the following evening. This means that passengers flying via Lomé benefit from ASKY’s two-way connectivity.
Photo: Philip Pilosian | Shutterstock
Outbound flights via West Africa are fed by far fewer intra-African arrivals, although key cities in East Africa are available. They also benefit from South Asian passengers. While this may seem surprising given the backtracking, many people do connect. Flights return to Addis at 21:00+ the next day, connecting to a handful of places in East Africa along with South Asia.
More coming?
In November, the Ethiopian’s CCO disclosed that two additional North American passenger destinations will be added “per year over the next few years.” He said that Denver, Minneapolis, Seattle, Houston, and Montreal are coming.
The airline flew to Houston between December 2019 and March 2020, which was obviously pulled because of the pandemic. It must have done sufficiently well to be returning. As with the other destinations, there is no timeframe for when they will be announced, let alone start.
Ethiopian Airlines Plans 2 New North American Destinations Per Year
These places are targeted for passenger flights.
Montreal is challenging. While Ethiopian Airlines has benefited from a marginal loosening of the Canadian bilateral, it has not (yet?) been given fifth freedom traffic rights via West Africa. This will be key for Montreal, with flying via Lomé logical. After all, it would allow passengers to connect across Francophone Western and Central Africa, which is clearly important for the Canadian city.
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.
