A statement issued in Accra by Mrs Hanna Atnafu, Manager Corporate Communications, Ethiopian Airlines said Ethiopian Airlines’ daily non-stop services to Singapore from Addis Ababa, due to be launched in June, would be covered by the expanded codeshare agreement.

It said under the expanded agreement, Ethiopian Airlines customers would be able to access multiple destinations in Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam across Singapore Airlines’ wide network.

In turn, Singapore Airlines customers will also enjoy access to Ethiopian Airlines’ vast intra-African network including countries like Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, The Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Mr Girma Shiferaw, the Acting Vice President, Strategic Planning and Alliances, Ethiopian Airlines said: “I wish to thank Singapore Airlines for the successful completion of this vital agreement.”

He said the two airlines would synergise their respective networks in Asia and Africa to offer customers the best connectivity options with one ticket and one single check-in at the first boarding airport.  “It will also play a critical role in enhancing investment, trade and tourism ties between a rising Africa, and a highly developed, innovative, and business-friendly Singapore,” he added.

Mr Tan Kai Ping, the Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President Marketing Planning said: “We are delighted with our expanded codeshare operations with Ethiopian Airlines.”   He said the significant expansion of their important partnership was in line with their ongoing effort to continuously expand their network reach and to offer customers more travel options and convenience when travelling between Africa, Asia and Southwest Pacific.

The airlines first began code sharing on each other’s flights to and from Dubai in 2011. The expanded codeshare flights are subject to regulatory approvals and will be progressively made available for sale across various sales channels.Ethiopian Airlines operates the youngest fleet on the African continent with an average aircraft age of less than five years, serving more than 90 international destinations across five continents with over 240 daily departures.

Singapore Airlines operates a modern passenger aircraft fleet of more than 100 aircraft. Together with wholly owned passenger airline subsidiaries SilkAir, Scoot and Tigerair, the SIA Group’s combined network covers more than 130 destinations around the world.