Africa’s largest airline group, Ethiopian Airlines, is targeting a larger share of the Nigerian market in 2018.
Mrs Firiehiwot Mekonen, General Manager, Ethiopian Airlines, Nigeria, told newsmen in Lagos on Monday that the airline would consolidate on its achievement in 2017.
The Ethiopian Airlines transported 416, 229 out of 3, 575, 542 passengers carried by the 30 airlines operating on the international route in Nigeria in 2017.
The figure represented 11.64 per cent of the Nigerian market, and it was the first time an African airline secured a lion share of the market.
“It is a very significant achievement because it is the first time an African airline is getting a lion share of the Nigerian market.
“Nigeria is an important market; most of the major airlines are here. Our target this year is to consolidate on our share of the market.
“We want Nigerian airlines too to work toward capturing a larger percentage of the market,” Mekonen said.
She noted that Nigeria was important to Ethiopian Airlines which, she said, was the only foreign airline that operated in the Kaduna Airport when the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, was shut in 2017 for repair of its runway.
Mekonen added that the airline also operated its first all women flight in Africa into the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in December 2017.
