Ethiopian Airlines urges S/Easterners to patronise Enugu airport for international travel

By Rosemary Iwuala

The management of Ethiopian Airlines has called on residents of Nigeria’s South-East region to patronise the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for overseas travel instead of going to Lagos or Abuja to board flights.

Speaking to journalists briefly after a public awareness and sensitisation programme held in the  Enugu metropolis, Henok Sirak, traffic and sales manager of the company, explained that the patronage is currently below expectation, creating a need to increase the number of international passengers from Enugu terminal.

Sirak noted that there is a flat rate for international flight tickets for Lagos and Enugu Airports, adding that the Ethiopian Airlines charges the same price for cargo leaving from Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu.

According to him, customers from Enugu don’t need to bother sending their cargo to Abuja and Lagos since the price is the same. This, he explained, is an advantage to the people of the South-East and Port-Harcourt to enable passengers to get the benefits of using Enugu airport.

“We organised this awareness to meet our target in Enugu. Since it was made an international airport, we have been flying three times a week but we are going to fly four times a week — Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays,” Sirak said.

“People of Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Port-Harcourt, Imo, and Abia can now fly and cargo their import and export from Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu to over 125 destinations and routes in over five continents including Asia, Africa, South America, North America, and Europe. We give full-fledged passenger-cargo service,” he said.

Sirak also encouraged South-Easterners to use Ethiopian Airlines in their international flights, noting that the East African airline currently uses Boeing 787, a modern aircraft, for its international operations.