Ethiopian Employees Elect New Board Reps

Feven Chane

The Ethiopian Airlines Board of Directors, on October 26, 2006, saw the replacement of three labour representatives who had served on the Board for the past five years.

In accordance to elections that are held every five years, the employees voted-in were Reta Melaku and Theodros Balcha, both instructors from the Aviation Maintenance Training School (AMTS) and Alemayehu Assefa, IT System and operation manager.

They replace outgoing representatives Biniam Hirabo, director of Spray Service; Matewos Menu, director of Material Management and Girma Kumbi, a foreman in Aircraft Maintenance.

The election, which was organized by the Human Resources Department, took place at the Ethiopian Conference Centre on Algeria Avenue in Sidist Kilo.

A source from the Ethiopian Airlines Labour Union told Fortune that anyone that has worked with the Airline for a reasonable length of time and has good knowledge on the working environment of the entire operation in addition to their own line of responsibility are eligible for nomination.

The three outgoing representatives came to the job with more than 20 years of work experience with Ethiopian.

Matewos told Fortune that during the five years that he and his colleagues served on the 11-member Board - chaired by Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs - they had been able to play an important role in achieving a 20pc growth in the Airlines' profit and also managed to secure a 60pc salary increase for its employees over the span of two years. A 40pc raise was given in the fiscal year 2003 - 2004 and a 20pc increase in 2004 -2005.

He claimed that the Board was also responsible for having Ethiopian awarded the Best Airline Performance in Africa by The Africa Aviation Journal in 2006 and moreover oversaw the construction of the new cargo terminal from November 2003 to January 2006, as well as approved the purchase of the five Boeing Dreamliner aircrafts.

"We have fulfilled all of this during the past five years, which were the best performance years in the Airline's history. We leave our positions very much delighted," Matewos said.

The labour representatives on the Board serve as a managing body and are involved in handling large scale employee cases and incidents.

The Labour Union handles cases concerning labour rights and privileges. It ensures employee safety provision while on the job and salary increment. The union has 10 executive members and 10 general assembly members, with a reshuffle held every three years.

A member of the Union told Fortune that when conflicts of interest between them and the management arises; he said that in such incidents, they can call on the Board to find a resolution to the matter at hand.An Ethiopian Airlines staff member told Fortune that he believed that more ideas can be received from the new representatives, because two of them are instructors who interact with a wide spectrum of employees.

Also, this employee said, Theodros has been a member of the Labour Union this has proved himself to be a responsible worker. He said that he also felt confident because all three members were socially very active with the employees as well as the management.

Ethiopian Airlines was founded in 1945 and currently has 4,762 employees working in Ethiopia alone.
© 2006 Addis Fortune.

Ethiopia: Girma Advises Against 'Tit-for-Tat' On Kenyan Ban

Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)

October 31, 2006
Posted to the web October 31, 2006
Issayas Mekuria


The Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopian Airlines, Girma Wake, gave two pieces of advice to the Ethiopian authorities and members of the media during a press conference at the Sheraton on Saturday, October 28.

"Two wrongs do not make a right," answered Girma, when asked whether he wants retaliation by the Ethiopian government to what their counterparts have done in banning his airline from flying from Nairobi to African destinations such as Entebbe (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda) and Bujumbura (Burundi).

A bilateral agreement entered between Ethiopia and Kenya, and regional trade pact among all Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member states require them to open their skies to airlines of each other countries. Ethiopian had for years picked up passengers from Nairobi and flown them to destinations of these East African nations. Nevertheless, three weeks ago, the Kenyan Ministry of Transport prohibited Ethiopia's flagship airline from flying anywhere else in Africa but Addis Abeba.

Kenyan officials were reciprocating for an Ethiopian ban on Kenyan Airways taking its passengers from Addis Abeba to Dubai and Jeddah.

"As far as I am concerned, these places are out of Africa," Girma told reporters, cautioning them not to "play this up out of proportion".

"We are not at war with the Kenyan Airways. Neither are our countries. It is only that the Kenyan authorities were misled by someone in the competition," Girma said.

He told reporters that Kenyan Airways is operating a flight from Addis to Djibouti, while his management has reserved from advising Ethiopian authorities to deny permits when they have applied for another destination from Addis Abeba. Recalling how Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa were the African nations that were pushing for more liberalized airline transport in Africa, Girma said he believes "the move will hurt Kenya more than anyone else."

Girma said he had talked to the Kenyan authorities following the ban and they did admit their mistakes.

"They said that they would reply in 10 days," Girma told reporters. "But, it's been three weeks now. I have still not heard anything from them."

Whether or not they respond or lift the ban, Girma said he is not interested to replay in kind.

"We oppose their decision not so much because we depend on the flight traffics going from Nairobi to these countries, but because principles need to be upheld," Girma said. "And we will under no circumstances stop Kenyan from flying to Djibouti or other African destinations from Addis Abeba."

He said African airlines who close their doors on others cannot ask others to open theirs. Although Girma believes that this was hardly a war between the two airlines or countries, he looked forward to the situation being eased.

Ethiopia: Girma Advises Against 'Tit-for-Tat' On Kenyan Ban

Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)

October 31, 2006
Posted to the web October 31, 2006
Issayas Mekuria


The Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopian Airlines, Girma Wake, gave two pieces of advice to the Ethiopian authorities and members of the media during a press conference at the Sheraton on Saturday, October 28.

"Two wrongs do not make a right," answered Girma, when asked whether he wants retaliation by the Ethiopian government to what their counterparts have done in banning his airline from flying from Nairobi to African destinations such as Entebbe (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda) and Bujumbura (Burundi).

A bilateral agreement entered between Ethiopia and Kenya, and regional trade pact among all Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member states require them to open their skies to airlines of each other countries. Ethiopian had for years picked up passengers from Nairobi and flown them to destinations of these East African nations. Nevertheless, three weeks ago, the Kenyan Ministry of Transport prohibited Ethiopia's flagship airline from flying anywhere else in Africa but Addis Abeba.

Kenyan officials were reciprocating for an Ethiopian ban on Kenyan Airways taking its passengers from Addis Abeba to Dubai and Jeddah.

"As far as I am concerned, these places are out of Africa," Girma told reporters, cautioning them not to "play this up out of proportion".

"We are not at war with the Kenyan Airways. Neither are our countries. It is only that the Kenyan authorities were misled by someone in the competition," Girma said.

He told reporters that Kenyan Airways is operating a flight from Addis to Djibouti, while his management has reserved from advising Ethiopian authorities to deny permits when they have applied for another destination from Addis Abeba. Recalling how Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa were the African nations that were pushing for more liberalized airline transport in Africa, Girma said he believes "the move will hurt Kenya more than anyone else."

Girma said he had talked to the Kenyan authorities following the ban and they did admit their mistakes.

"They said that they would reply in 10 days," Girma told reporters. "But, it's been three weeks now. I have still not heard anything from them."

Whether or not they respond or lift the ban, Girma said he is not interested to replay in kind.

"We oppose their decision not so much because we depend on the flight traffics going from Nairobi to these countries, but because principles need to be upheld," Girma said. "And we will under no circumstances stop Kenyan from flying to Djibouti or other African destinations from Addis Abeba."

He said African airlines who close their doors on others cannot ask others to open theirs. Although Girma believes that this was hardly a war between the two airlines or countries, he looked forward to the situation being eased.

Ethiopia: Ethiopian Air Wins Award

Kampala)

October 31, 2006
Posted to the web November 1, 2006

Vision Reporter
Kampala

Ethiopian Airlines has been voted the "African Airline of the year 2006" by African Aviation Journal.

The carrier was chosen for its financial performance and overall profitability, passenger growth, route network expansion, fleet modernization, in-flight services, and overall customer care.

The award plaque was handed over to Ethiopian Airlines' chief executive officer, Girma Wake by Her Excellency Susan Mcdernoff, the deputy assistant secretary for aviation & international affairs at the African Aviation's 15th annual air finance for Africa conference in Cape Town, South Africa recently.

The African Aviation Awards were introduced by Aviation Journal in 1999 in order to give international recognition to those individuals, companies, and organizations that have made significant contributions to Aviation development in Africa.

It is a special privilege for Ethiopian Airlines to have been awarded African Airline of the Year 2006. The award inspires the Airline to enhance its commitment to provide excellent quality services to its esteemed customers.

Since its inception on December 5, 1945, Ethiopian Airlines has steadily grown to become a reputable African airline with an unparalleled coverage of Africa to the Middle East, Asia, Europe and America. Right from the beginning Ethiopian Airlines has been pursuing its goal of bringing Africa Together and closer to the world. As a result today it is operating the largest network in the African continent both in passengers and cargo services. Ethiopian Airlines continuously strives to live up to its motto of being Africa's World Class Airline that provides seamless connections to 47 destinations spread around the globe including 28 in Africa via its Addis Ababa hub. Effective 26th October, Ethiopian Airlines has made significant capacity increase to the West African destinations mainly to: Lagos, Accra, Bamako, Dakar and Djamena with immediate connections via Addis Ababa Airport.

Ethiopian Airlines adds Sudan service

Ethiopian Airlines adds Sudan service
Posted Mon, 30 Oct 2006

Addis Ababa - Ethiopian Airlines announced that it would launch direct flights to Southern Sudan capital Juba, from November 16 following increased demand for its services in that country.

"The new service has been carefully designed to provide business travellers to and from Juba a direct link to Addis Ababa with convenient connections to the rest of Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and vice-versa," the airline's public relations department said.

As Southern Sudan emerges from a long civil war, Ethiopian Airline's flights to Juba were expected to bring that area closer to the world and also boost economic partnerships.

Located on the banks of the White Nile, Juba was Sudan's second most populated city with over 160 000 inhabitants.

The Addis Ababa-Juba flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with 111 passenger-capacity Boeing 737-200 aircraft, would bring Ethiopian Airline's total destinations in Africa to 29 and 47 worldwide.

Meanwhile, the airline has also announced plans to increase its services in Africa from October 29 with 11 weekly flights to Lagos, eight to Accra, daily to Khartoum and Johannesburg, six times to Dakar, five times to N'djamena and four times to Lome.

Two daily flights to Dubai were also to be introduced on the same day. -panapress

Vaccine recommendations For ethiopian Travel

Region: Africa



Vaccine recommendations for Ethiopian Travel

 

Disease
Recommendation
When to see a doctor
Typhoid
Vaccination recommended
10 days before travel
Hepatitis A
Vaccination recommended
2 weeks before travel
Diphtheria
Vaccination recommended
3 months before travel
Tuberculosis
*Vaccination sometimes recommended
3 months before travel
Hepatitis B
*Vaccination sometimes recommended
2 months before travel
Rabies
*Vaccination sometimes recommended
1 month before travel
Meningococcal meningitis
*Vaccination sometimes recommended
2-3 weeks before travel
Yellow fever
Vaccination recommended
10 days before travel
Japanese B encephalitis
Not required
.
Tick-borne encephalitis
Not required
.

* Recommendations that are marked "Vaccination
sometimes

recommended" should be considered as "Vaccination strongly recommended" if a


person is traveling frequently or spending extended time in that

country.



All travelers are advised to ensure that tetanus and polio

vaccinations are kept up to date.



Recommendations do change from time to time and it is important

to discuss your personal requirements with your doctor.





Malaria recommendations

 

Jet with 104 aboard crashes in Nigeria

Over 100 feared killed in Nigeria air crash
ABUJA (AFP) - More than 100 people have been feared killed when a commercial airliner crashed moments after takeoff in Nigeria's capital Abuja, official and aviation industry sources said.

"The ADC plane took off this morning from Lagos to Sokoto en route to Abuja with around 110 passengers and crew. After dropping some passengers in Abuja, it took off for Sokoto (north). Some moments after taking off, it lost control and crashed," one of the sources told AFP on Sunday.

A spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed the incident: "There was a crash this morning involving an ADC passenger plane. The plane crashed and burst into flames at the outskirts of Abuja. No information yet on casualties," Ibrahim Farinloye
The state-run News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said top-ranking government officials, senators, politicians, the son of one of Nigeria's former president and an influential traditional ruler, were on board.

It said a deputy governor was believed also to be on board of the ill-fated aircraft, owned by the private Nigerian airline ADC.

NAN said there were four survivors, while rescue operations were going on at the site of the crash, the latest to hit Nigeria's aviation industry in recent months.

Last month, 14 military officers, including 10 generals, were killed when their small airforce plane crashed into the hills in central Benue State.

The military officers were on their way to Obudu in southern Cross River State to attend the annual chief of army staff conference on September 17 when the Dornier 228-221, crashed into the hills of Korti in central Benue State minutes before arrival.

In December, a Sosoliso commercial jet crashed on landing in the oil city of Port Harcourt, killing all the 117 people on board.

Two months earlier, a Bellview commercial plane crashed in Lisa village, near Lagos, killing more than 100 people on board.

Nigerian President has ordered investigation into Sunday's tragegy.

"President Olusegun Obasanjo is deeply and profoundly shocked and saddened by the news of the reported air crash of an airliner in the environ of the federal capital territory today," presidential spokeswoman Oluremi Oyo said in a statement.

"The president has called for a full report and investigation into the crash. He condoled all Nigerians and especially the families and friends and associates of those who may have been on board the airline," she said