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MUMBAI, April 8

SMALLER airlines are able to weather adverse situations such as war and disease outbreaks better than large airlines, according to Mr Ayenew Alemneh, Regional Director, Ethiopian Airlines, for India and South-East Asia.

The larger airlines came out worse on account of geographically spread out operations and higher overheads, among others.

Mr Alemneh was speaking to presspersons at the launch of the airline's direct service between Mumbai and Beijing. The outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in China and Hong Kong was likely to be brought under control soon and it was unlikely to affect the service, which began on April 1.

The direct service between Mumbai and Beijing was targeted at the business traveller who would prefer to fly direct between the two countries, rather than make a halt at Hong Kong or Bangkok.

The airline would operate the long-range Boeing 767-300 on the sector. While the weekly flight from Mumbai would take off on Wednesdays at 8:15 hrs to arrive in Beijing at 20:15 hrs, the return flights, to be operated on Tuesdays and Thursdays, would take off from Beijing at 11:55 to arrive in Mumbai at 17:15 hrs the next day.

In contrast to the global aviation industry, which was going through a lean patch, Ethiopian Airlines had recorded a 6.5 per cent increase in revenues during 2001-02 as compared to that recorded in the previous year, Mr Alemneh said.

Ethiopian Airlines flies four times a week between Addis Ababa and Mumbai, and twice weekly between Addis Ababa and Delhi. The airline also operates a freighter service, flying up to four times a week depending on demand.

The airline was keen to expand its services in India, which was seen as a strategically located market for goods and services for the African continent, Mr Alemneh said. The airline, he said, hoped to exploit the business travel potential between India and Africa.

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Ethiopian Airlines starts Mumbai-Beijing service

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