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Ethiopian Airlines’ direct flight from Atlanta to Addis Ababa, which celebrates one year of operation on May 17, does more than transport passengers and cargo to and from the Ethiopian capital; it connects Atlanta with all of Africa – and Africans in Atlanta to each other.
The airline’s intention for the flight is to serve as a gateway from the Southeast United States into its more than 64 African destinations and more than 136 international destinations, according to Solomon Mekonnen Fanta, Ethiopian Airlines Traffic and Sales Manager, Southeast USA.
“Atlanta was only connected to two points directly to Africa. But we came up with the option of connecting the entire Africa. We fly to more than 64 destinations in Africa, so we give an option for African-bound travelers to fly anywhere in Africa,” he says.
Multiple African diaspora communities in Atlanta are ecstatic about the flight because, as Cameroon community representative and OneVoiceAfrica co-chair Vivian Ayafor asserts, it is an airline that is “our own, by our own and for us.”
The pan-African spirit of the flight is evident among various African community leaders in Atlanta.
“We don’t look at it like an Ethiopian airline, we look at it like an African airline,” echoes Edafe Sodje, head of the Nigerian Public Affairs Committee and co-chair for OneVoiceAfrica, commenting on behalf of the Nigerian community in Georgia.
The flight has caused quite a buzz in Atlanta’s African community, both for its ability to connect families to their home countries and for promoting international business.
The 12,000 Kenyans living in the Atlanta area have “rallied around this flight,” says Eric Mwangi, Kenya-born head of ABN Worldwide, an African business networking and marketing organization based in Atlanta.
“For us, it’s a home airline,” he asserts, noting that Kenya and Ethiopia share a border, so the flight is an easy route for the Kenyan diaspora in the Southeast to travel to their home country.
Even smaller African communities in Atlanta, like the 500 Rwandans living in the metro area, are excited about the Ethiopian Airlines flight, not only for its convenience but also for its effect of uniting the community around African roots, says Atlanta Rwandan Community representative Olivia Mugenga.
“What’s important is the brotherhood pride, the pride of Africa, by Africans for Africans… The response in the community is a very positive one,” Ms. Mugenga asserts.
Eritrean community leader in Atlanta Yonas Abraha agrees that the flight is fostering a sense of unity and even encouraging African Americans in the Southeast to embark upon “homecoming” trips to Africa.
Travelers on the flight are not only staying in Africa; they are connecting through Addis Ababa to other international destinations in Europe, Asia and beyond, Mr. Abraha says. Ethiopian Airlines flies to 136 destinations worldwide.
The flight is also furthering direct business relationships between the Southeast and Africa. The 8,000 Ghanaians in the Atlanta area are “ecstatic” about the flight, and their business community is helping to promote Ethiopian as an alternative to other airline competitors that “take us [the African diaspora] for granted,” says Matthew Abakah of the Ghana Council of Georgia.
Mr. Sodje adds that Ethiopian Airlines has opened opportunities for importing and exporting goods throughout the African continent.
In the year since the flight began, Ethiopian Airlines has transported 1,200 tons of cargo and some 53,000 passengers between Atlanta and Addis Ababa, with most travelers connecting to subsequent destinations.
African communities in the Atlanta area are hoping for the four-times-weekly flight to increase in frequency to a daily flight.
“Daily flights would give us more opportunity to connect our people here to communities and business opportunities throughout Africa and Europe, even Asia,” Mr. Abraha says.
“There’s a huge potential from Atlanta to Africa and the Middle East. So, we are hoping – and planning – to have more frequency in the years to come,” says Mr. Fanta.
Visit www.ethiopianairlines.com for more information about the Atlanta-Addis Ababa flight, stopover packages and route maps for the airline’s destinations worldwide.
