Paulo Zucula, Transport Minister of Mozambique, handed out the award to Ato Girma Wake, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines at the gala dinner held on November 24, 2009 in Maputo. Commenting on the award, Ato Girma said, “We are indeed honoured to receive this award which, once again, reaffirms our commitment to meet the needs of African aviation” and further added, “The recognition, coming at such a challenging time for the airline industry, is an acknowledgement of our continued hard work and dedication to provide outstanding service to our customers.”
Ethiopian has frequently been chosen as the best Airline in Africa for its performance and outstanding contribution to the development of African aviation. In addition to the AFRAA award, Ethiopian has received four significant awards in a row since January, 2009.
The Annual General Assembly which took place from 22 to 24 November 2009 was attended by the chief executive officers of African airlines, senior officials representing the civil aviation and airport authorities, regional and international aviation organizations and regional economic community leaders as well as global aircraft manufacturers led by Airbus, Boeing and Embraer.
