Addis Ababa surpasses Dubai to become the leading gateway to Africa

With forward airline bookings between this November and January 2019 having grown more than 40% compared to the same period a year ago, Addis Ababa has become the number one gateway to the continent of Africa, surpassing the Middle East hub of Dubai.

ForwardKeys, who compiled the data, believe that this shift to the Ethiopian capital has been due to both moves made by the country’s government and its national carrier, Ethiopian Airlines. The latter, as part of its 2025 vision, continues to increase capacity to facilitate growth, such as its new services between Addis Ababa and both Moscow and Dublin. Having grown at an average of 25% per year over the past seven years, the airline is now the continent’s largest. By modernising its fleet, which now includes many Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Ethiopian Airlines is also trying to continually improve its services, something that has enabled it to be named the Best Airline in Africa by the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) every year since 2012. The new US$345 million terminal at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport should also bolster the airline’s efforts.

The biggest boost gained from the Ethiopian government revolves around its relaxed visa process, which enables visitors to arrange them ahead of time online. This is thought to be a major factor in boosting Chinese tourism, which has grown in some areas by as much as 440%. This comes at a time when increased visa restrictions in South Africa, particularly in relation to people travelling with children, have hit the tourism industry and South African Airways hard.

Other welcome reforms put in place by Ethiopia’s new prime minister that are thought to be contributing to the flow of visitors include the recent peace deal signed with Eritrea, and the promise to further open the country to international private investment.

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