Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest carrier, Ethiopian Airlines has reported that its revenue for the full year 2016 spiked by 10.3% to a record $2.43 Billion while Net profit jumped by a massive 70% to $265 Million.
The state run carrier also noted that its passenger numbers rose by 18% and was rapidly expanding with regular plane orders in a bid to become a global player through its hub in Addis Ababa.
The Airlines Chief Executive Officer Tewolde Gebremariam was quoted by Reuters saying that Trump’s order which temporarily halts immigration from seven Muslim-majority states was creating confusion for passengers but didn’t have a huge impact on the Airline’s operations.
Despite the record revenue and net profit, the CEO said the airline still faced alot of challenges, particularly in African states where the shortage of foreign exchange meant it could not repatriate earnings held in local currency.
The airline’s total local currency holdings held across the continent is worth $220m in Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, Egypt and some other states, but this was losing value as the local currency depreciated, partly because lower oil prices had hit oil-producing economies.
(Reuters, Ethiopian Airlines, Additional reporting by Kenyan Wall Street)