Ethiopian Airlines, the largest aviation group in Africa, is set for the debut flight of its latest aircraft, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, to Beijing in two weeks.

The airline has named the new aircraft "Beijing".

Yared Berta, EAL's regional director for China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Mongolia, says the airline named the new Dreamliner aircraft after Beijing to honor the good relationship and remarkable communication between China and Ethiopia.

In 2014, when the airline welcomed its ninth Boeing 787 Dreamliner, it named the aircraft "China Great Wall" to commemorate the long history of Ethiopian Airlines in China and how it has served as a bridge for the peoples of China and Africa.

Naming the latest aircraft "Beijing "also symbolizes the significance of the China market to EAL, he adds.

"The delivery of the aircraft showcases the consideration given to the development of the aviation sector in the country and thereby enhancing China-Africa economic and people-to-people relations with a safe and modern transport system."

He says the new aircraft has finished the registration process with the Civil Aviation Administration of China on the Addis Ababa-to-Beijing route, adding that it will be a historic moment when "Beijing" meets Beijing.

The aircraft, which has 30 business-class and 285 economy-class seats, is the newest Boeing aircraft in the world and makes EAL the first African airline, and the second worldwide after Japan, to receive the 787-9 Dreamliner.

Currently, EAL has five destinations in China and is striving for the steady growth and enhancement of China-African connectivity by adding such destinations as Shenzhen, Chongqing and Zhengzhou.

The airline says it plans to increase its frequency on existing routes to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Chengdu, in addition to the daily flight to Beijing.

EAL now has more than 200 Chinese employees in its five destination cities in China and Addis Ababa, the airline says.

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/24/2017 page3)