By Yonas Abiye
Addis Ababa, May 16, 2011 (Ezega.com) - Ethiopian Airports Enterprise (EAE) won gold medal at the 14th International Transport Award for business excellence named ‘the new millennium award’ in recognition of its airline service, freight logistics, cargo service, international container terminal service, and marine transport service.
The golden award was presented to EAE last week in Paris organized by Trade Leader’s Club that has more than 14,000 members in 124 countries, comprising all the production and services fields.
Headquartered in the Spanish capital of Madrid, the Club was founded in 1978 with the objective of establishing a tie among various companies.
Regarding the award, EAE’s Chef Executive Officer, Shiferaw Alemu, told reporters on Friday that the business excellence award will encourage the enterprise to do more and maintain Bole International Airport as one of the finest and well equipped runways and terminals in Africa.
He also indicated that the enterprise was chosen by the Club as winner of this year’s best airlines award out of several contenders, including from those from Mexico, Turkey, Nigeria, Malaysia and other 18 countries.
According Shiferaw, the club acclaimed the airport as the top-ranking airport in Africa for its consistently and dynamically supporting airlines’ route development through the airport’s wide ranging services.
The CEO also indicated the services rendered by all airports throughout Ethiopia, particularly Bole international airport, is the reason for this award. “The effort being made to make Bole International Airport the traffic hub of East Africa is a crucial factor in this award,” he added.
In addition to Bole International Airport, the Enterprise EAE administers 17 airports across the country, out of which, four of them are international and the rest are domestic. Currently, the enterprise is building its 18th airport in Kombolcha town.
Regarded as one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines received more than four awards since 2007 in recognition of its long-haul operations.
The EAE chief told Ezega.com that EAE is undertaking a huge expansion project to upgrade the overall capacity of Bole International Airport at a cost of some 1.2 billion birr. This will enable the airport to accommodate 25 new flights.
Upon completion of the project, the airport will increase its takeoff weight from the existing 19 to 41 aircrafts simultaneously, Sheferaw said.
According to the CEO, the airport will also have a capacity of accommodating heavy planes such as Boeing 747 and ‘triple seven’, in addition to curbing congestion of the ever increasing traffic flow.
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Yonas Abiye is Addis Ababa based reporter for Ezega.com.
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