Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam says they experienced a revenue growth of 17 percent for a total of USD 3.7 billion.
In a speech to employees, Tewolde said net profits had decreased compare to the 6.8 billion birr 2017/18 profit. The crash and subsequent suspension of the 737-800 Max due to safety issues cost the airline a lot of money. In addition, engine problems in the Boeing 787 led to a shortage of those planes which made Ethiopian reduce flights.
Tewolde added that instability in the county, a slowing economy and the decline of exports contributed negatively to their revenue. The flagship carrier transported 12.1 million passengers in the reported period, up by 13 percent from the previous fiscal year. There were 110,220 flights 80 percent of which departed on time.
Freight grew by 8 percent from previous fiscal year to 400,371 tons.
The airline started six new international destinations including Asmara, Istanbul, Mogadishu, Manchester, Jakarta and Moscow in the stated period.
“The profitability of the airline industry has been up and down. Many airlines in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and almost all African airlines have experienced losses. We are continuing our profitability though it is not like before,’’ Tewolde said in a statement he sent to the employees of the airline.
“The 25 percent increase of oil, during a global economic slowdown has also reduced the number of passengers from other African countries. The Ebola virus in DRC and its exaggerated reports also cost us money,” he added.
The chief executive also announced that his management decided to increase salaries of the employees by 15 percent.
He went on to discuss Ethiopian’s vision 2035, which would expand passengers, staff, and destinations. “We delivered the 2025 vision plan except for the revenue seven years ahead of schedule and now we are working on another plan.”
Recently, the government decided to sell an undisclosed amount of the airline’s share which has been monopolized by the state.
Ethiopian Air Lines often referred to as simply Ethiopian, is Ethiopia’s flag carrier and is wholly owned by the government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to international flights in 1951.