Ethiopian Airlines seeking stop-over in Dublin
Addis Ababa, 14 July 2014 (WIC) - The Government has taken the first step towards a deal with Ethiopian Airlines that would allow the carrier to stop at Dublin airport to collect passengers while en route to Los Angeles.
Ethiopian’s chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam recently confirmed that the airline – Africa’s largest – is considering launching a service from Addis Ababa to Los Angeles that would use Dublin as a stopover and has already secured rights from the aviation regulator.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport confirmed at the weekend that its staff have “initialled” a bi-lateral agreement with the Ethiopian authorities as a first step to allowing the airline to fly into Dublin airport but the Minister has yet sign off on the deal.
He added that the airline had yet to apply for so-called “fifth-freedom rights” which would entitle it to collect passengers at the Irish airport and fly them on to Los Angeles. (irishtimes.com)
