Louis Ibah

Ethiopian Airlines has launched flight operations between Lagos, Nigeria and Johannesburg, South Africa, making use of its code-share flight deal with Togolese-based airline, ASKY.

The inaugural flight which took off from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on Saturday was operated using an ASKY Boeing 737-700 aircraft commanded by Captain Dawit Muluneh. It left Lagos for Johannesburg by 16:45 pm and had a 70 per cent passenger load-factor on board making it the only non- South African airline on the route between Nigeria and South Africa. The Asky aircraft was welcomed with Water Canon Salute and received by staff of ASKY and Ethiopian Airlines. And the Lagos airport community also joined in the reception.

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The General Manager of Ethiopian Airlines in Nigeria, Mrs. Firihiewot Mekonnen, told the media at the inaugural flight ceremony that under the code-sharing deal for the Lagos – Johannesburg route, ASKY would serve as the operating airline while Ethiopian Airline is designated as the marketing airline.

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“Nigeria is one of our biggest markets where we bring the best of our aircraft and we always strive to give our best to Nigerians,” said Mekonnen.

“As part of this motive, we found out a lot of Nigerians travel to South Africa so we decided to help improve the connectivity for the passengers. We have also availed many promotional fares so we invite Nigerians to use the best deals to Johannesburg,” she added.

The flights are daily from Lagos to Johannesburg. Some days the flights go through Libreville on other days it will go through Douala.