African airline wins 2008 Brussels Airport Marketing Award

The Brussels Airport Marketing Award was given to Ethiopian in recognition of its long haul operations, manifested through the development of new routes, new products and close c-ooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities. Ethiopian is the first African carrier to be honoured for this award in Belgium. The award plaque was presented to Tewolde G. Mariam, chief operating Officer of Ethiopian at the Brussels Airport Awards Gala evening dinner at the Sky Hall at the airport on October 23, 2008 in the presence of more than 500 airline representatives, travel agents, tour operations, and the travel press.

Speaking on the occasion, Tewolde said, “It is a special honour and privilege for Ethiopian to receive the marketing award in recognition of its efforts and results to develop the route between Addis Ababa and Brussels. Today, we are connecting Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union and the capital of Africa and Brussels, the seat of the EU and the capital of Europe with daily services. Our code share co-operation with SN Brussels will also help us to further develop the route between the two hub gateways.”

According to the explanation by the Brussels Airport, Ethiopian won the award as the result of its initiative in increasing the frequencies of its Addis Ababa-Brussels flights from a three-weekly to a daily service, entering into a co-operative agreement with Brussels Airlines and opening a direct coach service to Brussels Airport from The Netherlands. Ethiopian has been providing passenger flight services on this route since June 2006. Currently Ethiopian operates daily. Four flights operate from the Ethiopian Airlines' hub Addis Ababa to Brussels via Frankfurt and the rest via Paris.

Ethiopian Airlines scooped the 2008 Best Airline in Africa Award at the African Travel Awards gala night held in Lagos, Nigeria. The award was conferred to Ethiopian for its network and connections in Africa. The organiser of the 4th Akwaaba Travel Market, Ikechi Uko said, “It is a well-deserved award as Ethiopian Airlines has served Africa well over the years being the major link between the East, West and North and South Africa.

“Ethiopian provides the travelling public with the best service possible, and the quality of its service contributed to the growth of travel and tourism in Africa,” she added.

The award was presented to Ato Busera Awel, Ethiopian vice president - commercial at the awards dinner held at Expo Centre Eko Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria on October 25, 2008. Akwaaba Travel Market is the only international travel exhibition in West Africa recognised by the UN-World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). It is organised annually by African Travel Quarter (ATQ) magazine.