By Victor Shalton
Ethiopian Airlines Announces Singapore, Copenhagen As Two Latest Destinations
Ethiopian Airlines is resuming services to Copenhagen on May 22 after last serving the Danish capital in 2003. The carrier plans to offer five flights per week to the city, starting on May 22, 2023. The Addis Ababa-Copenhagen Kastrup route will operate via Austria’s capital Vienna using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Copenhagen was last served by Ethiopian in October 2003, when the airline ended its one-stop routing via Frankfurt. Since joining Ethiopian’s network in 2014, Vienna has had flights continue to Stockholm; Brussels; Milan, Italy; Geneva and Marseille, France. In recent years, the carrier has served two destinations in Scandinavia, flying to Stockholm and Oslo.
At the present time, OAG data shows it operates a daily Addis Ababa-Stockholm-Oslo service using a mix of 787-9s and 777-200LRs.
The new route will also have an impact on the Vienna route as previous onward flights to the Belgian capital Brussels will no longer be used after stopping in Austria.
Ethiopian currently operates a route from Addis Ababa to Vienna to Brussels five times per week, in addition to operating twice-weekly nonstop flights from Addis Ababa to Brussels.
The addition of the Addis Ababa-to-Vienna-to-Copenhagen route will see Ethiopian end the Addis Ababa-Vienna-Brussels routing and instead operate daily nonstop flights between Addis Ababa and Brussels.
As well as making changes to its European network, Ethiopian has also confirmed plans to resume regular flights to Singapore after a three-year hiatus because of the pandemic.
From March 25, the carrier will offer a four times-weekly Addis Ababa-Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route a move that brings the Ethiopian national carrier back closer to restoring services to all pre pandemic destinations.
“The flight will further expand our network in Asia and create air connectivity for passengers travelling between Africa and Singapore,” Ethiopian Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said.
“The new flight will also facilitate trade, investment, and tourism ties between Africa and Singapore. In line with our plan for growing our network around the world, we will keep on opening new routes to enhance connectivity between Africa and the rest of the world via Addis Ababa.”
The last time the carrier operated its passenger services to Changi Airport was from June 2017 to March 2020 due to the pandemic and border closures. However, the Star Alliance airline continued to operate ad hoc cargo services using passenger aircraft.
Passenger traffic between Africa and Southeast Asia grew steadily between 2015 and 2019 pre-pandemic. More than 1.4 million passengers travelled between the Africa and South-east Asia in 2019, an increase of about 30% from 2015.
Flights from Addis Ababa to Singapore will take about ten and a half hours, while the return journey will take close to nine hours.
| Flight No. | Route | Departure (local time) | Arrival (local time) | Days of Operation (of departing flight) |
| ET638 | Addis Ababa – Singapore | 11:20 p.m. | 2:50 p.m. (+1) | Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday |
| Singapore – Kuala Lumpur | 3:50 p.m. | 5:10 p.m. | Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday | |
| ET639 | Kuala Lumpur – Singapore | 11:15 p.m. | 12:45 a.m. (+1) | Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday |
| Singapore – Addis Ababa | 2 a.m. | 5:50 a.m. | Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday |
Victor Shalton’s love for aviation can be traced to when he was 11-years-old. As a seasoned aviation writer, he takes pride in providing the best aviation coverage around the globe and is passionate about advancing his skills in the aviation space. In addition, he loves travelling, writing, arts and while his speaking engagements have taken him around the world, he is proud to call Nairobi home.
