ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES is proud to announce that it has been selected as an ‘Official Carrier of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Organization of the African Unity-African Union.’ The celebration started in April, 2013, and will last for one year. The Memorandum of Understanding designating Ethiopian as Official Carrier of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations was signed between Mr Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission and Mr Esayas Woldemariam, Acting Chief Commercial Officer and Senior Vice-President of Global Sales of Ethiopian, at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, 7 May, 2013.
"We are very proud to be selected as an official carrier for the historic Golden Jubilee celebration of the Organization of African Unity-African Union. Our main hub, Addis Ababa, is the political and diplomatic capital of Africa and Pan-Africanism is part and parcel of our corporate DNA. For close to seven decades, we have been manifesting our Pan-Africanist creed by serving as a presidential airline for newly independent African countries in the early 1960s; by bringing Africa together and closer to the world in good and bad times; by promoting Africa throughout the world; by always being an aviation technology leader in the continent; and by providing training and aviation services to sisterly African airlines.
“Ethiopian and the African Union have been working together, for five decades, towards the shared objective of an integrated, peaceful and prosperous Africa that takes its rightful place on the global stage. Today, thanks to the work of the African Union and indigenous African airlines like Ethiopian, the African Renaissance is here," said Ato Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian.
As an official carrier, Ethiopian will support and promote the many activities planned throughout the continent in connection with the milestone anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity-African Union, under the theme of "Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance."