Ethiopian Airlines

የኢትዮጵያ አየር መ ንገድ

Current marketing situation of Ethiopian airlines

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Background
Ethiopian airlines it was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operation on 8 April 1946,
expanding to international flight in 1951. The firm become a share company in 1965 and changed its name
from Ethiopian Air Lines to Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian is a star alliance member having joined in
December 2011. The company slogan is The New spirit of Africa. Mission to become the leading aviation
group in Africa by providing safe and reliable and cargo air transport aviation Flight Catering ,and Ground
Services by 2025. And it owns a 49% stake in Malawi airlines and 45% in Zambia airways. It is now 4 Star
global company. The flight places
Africa - 62 Cities:- Abidjan, Abuja, Accra, Addis Ababa, Antananarivo ,Asmara, Bahir dar, Bamako,
Blantyre, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Cairo, Cape Town,Comoros, Conakry, Cotonou, Dakar, Dar-Es-Salaam,
Dire dawa, Djibouti, Douala, Entebbe, Enugu, Gaborone, Garowe, Goma, Harare, Hargeisa, Johannesburg,
Juba, Kaduna,Kano, Khartoum, Kigali, Kilimanjaro, Kinshasa, Kisangani ,Lagos, Libreville, Lilongwe,
Lomé, Luanda, Lubumbashi, Lusaka, Malabo, Maputo, Mbuji-Mayi, Mekele, Mombasa, Mogadishu,
N’Djamena, Nairobi, Ndola, Niamey, Nosy Be Ouagadougou, Pointe-Noire, Seychelles, Victoria Falls,
Windhoek, Yaoundé, Zanzibar.

Europe, North and South America - 22 Cities :- Athens, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Manchester,
Madrid, Marseille, Rome, Milan, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm, Vienna, Paris, Chicago, Washington DC, Newark,
Canada, Buenos Aires, Rio De Janeiro.

Gulf, Middle East & Asia - 26 Cities :-Bahrain, Bangalore, Bangkok, Beijing, Beirut, Chengdu, Dammam,
Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Manila, Moscow,
Mumbai, Muscat, Riyadh, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Tokyo.

Mission

To become the leading Aviation group in Africa by providing safe and reliable passenger and cargo
air transport, Aviation Training, Flight Catering, MRO and Ground Services by 2025.
To ensure being an airline of choice to its customers, employer of choice to its employees and an
investment of choice to its Owner,
To contribute positively to socio economic development of Ethiopia in particular and the countries
which it operates in general by undertaking its corporate social responsibilities and providing vital
global air connectivity,

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So the main target of this plan is to build affirm market in Africa and move to move to the other continents,
countries. you have seen covid-19 posed a huge problem for the airline industry also for Ethiopian airline but
also the bankruptcy(like Kenya and south African air lines) and other airlines created a huge market for
Ethiopian airline using this a situation we can build a huge market in Africa and other continents so in the
current situation EAL operational flights is shown below.
Flight Number of location it fly The number of flight per week
domestic flight 17 379
East African flight 17 105
West Africa flight 15 74
Central and south Africa 17 64
Asia 17 62
Europe 16 72
US 5 21
Total 104 777
But we can enter a new market and increase the locations it travels. In the current situation the market share
by seat in Africa the Ethiopian airlines control 22% so if we use this opportunity we get huge market. In
another point the ELA is the back bone of the Ethiopian economy by bringing foreign currency to the
country and also by creating job in the country also for foreigners and also the company have well trained
personals and also train others so they will be adequate in the job when they perform in the service industry,
great management team that has been leading in a great manner so it achieved the best air line of the year for
3 years respectively, it also in the coming year will have up to 127 destination and 58 cargo flights, it is
100% owned by government so the firm work no only for money but also to create long term customs.
The following table shows information from 2011-2020
Parameters
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
35 36 46 54 54 60 69 78 79 101
Aircraft
52 56 60 65 68 73 82 84 88 95
Destination
2,504,646 2,812,337 3,146,911 3,731,321 4,644,425 5,224,717 5,918,364 6,353,059 7,595,057 8,761,101
Passenger
number
72,758 100,764 134,166 160,129 180,808 174,446 186,336 236,772 266,223 338,646
Cargo
tonnage
978,657,43 1,159,037,528 1,278,451,912 1,509,870,819 1,925,715,226 2,079,202,141 2,399,031,251 2,418,121,516 2,531,461,736 2,713,445,732
Revenue in 2

USD
53,995,775 127,680,621 123,602,40 75,137,351 41,809,292 110,931,687 162,112,536 172,661,302 284,982,557 232,817,307
Profit in
USD
1,380,138,937 2,017,683,129 2,432,683,129 7,745,183,129
Infrastructu
re value in
USD

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 4,896 5,075 5,555 6,129 6,557 7,390 8,066 8,977 10,227 11,284
employees
3,021 6,532 6,517 6,695 15,543 7,891 9,736 11,268 18,181 15,350
Graduate
trainees
22%
Market
share by
seat in africa
Competitive analysis
A) Egypt airways
Headquartered at Cairo international air port its main hub have more than 75 destination it carried almost 8.9
million passengers in the year may 2019 and it the member of star alliance.
B) Morocco national carrier
It is fully owned by government headquartered on the grounds of Casablanca-anfa airport.
C) Kenya airways
Head quartered at Embakasi, Nairobi its number of destination 53 and it the member of skyteam .
D) Emirates
Based in Garhoud, Dubai and the number of destination 157 it makes 3,600 flights per week
E) Qatar
Headquartered at Doha it is the member of oneworld alliance since October 2013 the number of destination
172
SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis tells as the strength, weakness, opportunity and treats for the company.
Strength to Ethiopian airline

One the strength is company is well trained personals and train it so there will be adequate in the job
when they perform the service industry, great management team that has been lead it.
It is also the 3 years the best air line of the year,
It also in the coming year will have up to 95 destination and 58 cargo flights,
It is 100% owned by government so the firm work no only for money but also to create long term
customs, Ethiopia have tourism locations that can be visited with will be bring visitors this also
works for the hole Africa.
Ethiopia has the fastest growing economy in Africa and the world
Ethiopia also have the 2 largest population in Africa.
It controls the 22% seat share the African

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Significantly increased the number of air travelers carried and tripled the carried cargo with
increased in Europe, US, Asia especially China
The main hub(which is found in Addis , bole) is well located in place to Asia to Africa as well as
Arab countries
It is the youngest in Africa
The association with star alliance helps him strength in the international as well as domestically
large number of new airplanes (like Boeing 777-2000LR)
have a secondary hub in Togo called lome-tokoin international airport and subsidiaries in
Mozambique
It is the only country in Africa that passed the 100 aircrafts
Weakness to Ethiopian airline
The level of corruption within the company
Bad purchasing policy and practice
Low revenue from home market
Lack of financial support from government
The organization receivers criticism for its poor waste management
The company losses efficiency due to poor inventory management
Country’s foreign currency shortage
Insufficient budget for marketing and promotion
Insufficient training of employees
Opportunities for Ethiopian Airlines
Africa have the second largest population in continent and it can exploit
Covid 19 caused the bankruptcy of African airlines like Kenya and south Africa it can enter this
market
Expanding to Latin America , Asia, most European countries
Revenue from training air line industry workers
Gating mentorship from star alliance members like Lufthansa
The rising number of affluent peoples in Ethiopia as well as Africa
The emergence new market segment
The diplomatic relation between Ethiopia and other countries

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 Ethiopia and African countries have many number of historical and safari place which creates
opportunity
Treats to Ethiopian airline
The instability with in the country in Africa
Increase fuel cost
The increase in road transportation from region to region and country to country like train
The attractiveness of Africa in aviation could attract other competitors , some of the competitors
are Kenya airways, emirates, Qatar airways
The rise in inflation rate increase the price of service
The cultural difference among nations
The crashing of planes
Market research
In the market research there is high volume of visitors travel during the month of June to July and
November to December. The lowest points are in January to February and October to November.
According to the data there were 80 million trips out of the united states out of the US for the year 2016.
In comparison to the 74 million trips in 2015 there has been an increase in air traffic by 8.1%.
From the total market mentioned above 0.5% of those flights have been to Africa with a 4.1% increment
from the previous year.
The goal is to increase leisure travel to the African markets. With regard to leisure travel, many of the
differences between millennial and non-millennial reflect life stage factors such as their discretionary
income, marital status, whether there are children in the household, how demanding their jobs are, and
how much vacation time they have. Half of the millenials we surveyed report taking four or more
overnight leisure trips per year compared with more than 75% of non-millennials. Millennial men say
that they take more leisure trips each year than do women who travel primarily for leisure, and Hispanic
millennials report the least amount of leisure air travel on average. Men of both generations report
travelling alone for leisure more than women. Analytics: Using a combination of demand side ad-
platforms, tools and marketplaces, unique users that fit specific demographic criteria can be targeted.
5,000,000 unique individuals have been identified within the United States, Mexico and Canada between
the ages of 18-35 with digital patterns of travelers.

The user base includes identifying users based on device location patterns, airport check-ins/check-outs
and general behavior showing international travelers.

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 Recommended Strategy:

For Ethiopia, Unfiltered Inc has planned preliminary destinations and story lines that would resonate with
our target audience.47.2 million Americans indulged in hiking or backpacking as an interest between
spring 2016 and spring 2017. Majority of this audience is millennials. Content similar to the “The perfect
day at Debre Zeyt’s Crater Lake”, “Hike of a lifetime at Wenchi Crater Lake”, “Feel the rhythm of Addis
Ababa” (showcasing the vibrance of the nightlife).Using content creation capabilities, footage of the
destinations would be captured and distributed to the North American audience

For Ethiopian Airlines, in addition to selecting preliminary destinations and story lines, the type of
content created will divided into two categories.

Character based story-driven

Millennials are the most brand loyal generation in recorded history, according to a research report by
Elite Daily. The reasoning is buying choices have become a way to express values. People’s values don’t
change, so when an individual finds a brand whose story aligns with their values, they are loyal. To
utilize this tendency, storylines surrounding the all female crew is a perfect starting Destination based
story-driven. Millennials are obsessed with social media. Research shows 90% of U.S millennials are on
2-3 social media platforms. According to Internet Marketing Inc, 76% of millennials post their vacation
pictures to social media. 52% of Facebook users were inspired to make travel plans by pictures of friends.
Content will be created around the destinations, Ethiopian Airlines can take their audience.

Objective and issues of Ethiopia airlines

The vision of this plan is so to attained from the year 2021 to 2025
Flight Number of location of flight we would The number of flight per week we would
like to achieve like to achieve
domestic flight 28 428
East African flight 20 150
West Africa flight 23 103
Central and south Africa 35 201
Asia 21 200
Europe 21 103
US 9 90
Latin America 11 65
Total 168 1,490

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The blue shows the future destinations
The red shows destinations
Table of the plan
Parameters 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Aircraft 105 110 125 145 167
Destination 120 127 129 132 138
Passenger number 9,987,655 10,809,482 11,018,769 11,995,786 12,786,555
Cargo tonnage 398,849 410,569 640,291 681,129 702,493
Revenue in USD 3,000,000,000 5,000,000,000 7,000,000,000 8,000,000,000 9,000,000,000
Profit in USD 300,000,000 400,000,000 500,000,000 600,000,000 800,000,000
Infrastructure 7,745,183,307 10,845,457,484 19,454,794,454 25,256,574,460 30,450,296,274
value in USD
Employees 5,452 7,7485 9,849 10,199 12,449
Graduate trainees 13,991 17,188 18,786 20,002 27,545
Market share by 28% 32% 35% 40% 45%
seat in Africa
It is now four star global airline so raise it to 5.
How are we going to the profit or revenue and market share?

 Covid-19 has created a huge gap because of failure of Kenya airway and south Africa airway others
by using this gap we can achieve the objective.
 By creating partnership with government and introducing the country’s attraction to the world like
Aksum, Bahir Dar & Lake Tana, Bale Mountains National Park, Danakil Depression, Gonder
fasildes, Harar, Lalibela, Omo valley, Rift Valley lakes, simian mountains, Southern Rift valley,
Yabel wildlife sanctuary by using communication channel with will be listed letter.
 Helping other small African countries to launch a new air line and owning some part or share.
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  Negotiating fuel cost which is second largest cost next to employees pay.
 Recently the Ethiopian airline to the Dubai as the biggest transfer hub for long travel so by
undergoing expansion and increasing the passengers accommodation it will get revenue and market
share
 By creating research and development teams which will innovate or create adopt an invention.
“innovation is the engine of growth”
 Increasing the number of cargo movement and logistic service.
 Creating reasonable price than competitors.
 Creating maintenance, repair and overhaul center.
 Expanding the Ethiopian aviation academy so foreigners can come to this country and study.
 Expanding to Latin America, Asia and new market segments
 Preparing polices that reduce or eliminate corruption
 Raising the money in promotion and marketing(E-marketing)
 Providing effective and efficient service.
 Stimulating technological advancement
Marketing strategies

Deciding which market to enter:- typical entry strategy is the waterfall approach, gradually entering
countries in sequence,. so in this plan should follow waterfall approach Ethiopian airline will enter the
markets by owning some percent so small countries in Djibouti, Chad and Equatorial Guinea it has already
operates hubs in Malawi. And in Africa the new flight that will be started are to democratic republic of
Congo, Niger, Mauritania, morocco, Lesotho Asia sir Lanka, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Europe
Greenland, Lisbon, Milan, Frankfurt Latina America Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Venezuela,
Colombia,Chile,Uruguay US California, Florida, Huston
Deciding on the Marketing Program:- adapted international marketing the producer adjusts the
marketing strategy and mix elements to each target market, bearing more costs but hoping for a larger market
share and return.

Communication channels(promotion) analyses

Television
The electronic media in the developing counters has grown in important and by far the most popular in
developing and developed(westerns and Asia) powerful source of communication.
Print media newspapers
Print is considered an effective means of communication tactical messages which all airlines are adapting to.
So developing on there language and also using digital media.
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Billboards/Hoardings
Statistics indicate there has been an upward trend in the form of advertising lately. However, the general
consensus us among the world is that it is expensive and the return for money is relatively poor. Differing to
the countries.
Pricing strategies
Patronage-oriented objectives,Odd pricing, Synchro-pricing, Penetration pricing
Some of the pricings
countries Price in ETB
Italy 15,849
US 32,182
Nairobi 18,024
Shanghai 290,955
Dubai 19,597
Bangkok Suvarn Vieabh 31,852
Arba Minch 2,296
Djibouti 6,718
Cairo 7,187
Johannesburg 8,759
Accra 13,548

Online marketing
Technology if harnessed correctly can help organizations to cut cost and run more efficiently. The internet
itself is also a powerful marketing tool. Optimizing websites could lead to very profitable markets. They
organically rank high on search engines such as Google when specific key words such as “flights” and
“Addis Ababa” etc.. are entered. Paid advertising on Google using their Ad words components is also an
option. Social integration with Facebook and twitter is not only free but extremity beneficial in terms of
brand exposure.
Radio
With a variety of channels and target demographics, radio has been and continues to be a profitable avenue
for advertising .
Magazines
Selamta magazine has been prominent in Ethiopia as will in some part of Africa and using the most reputable
and recognized magazines like Rayanair magazine, Go(Air Tran, United states), Tie: Holland Herald (KLM,
Netherlands) and Lufthansa magazine(Germany), Qantas the Australian way(Australia), Smile (cebu Pacific,
Philippines), Voyager (British midland international, UK) , Indwe (SA express, south Africa), sky( delta,

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US),Kia Ora (Air New Zealand), Open skies(Emirates, United Arab Emirates), En Route (air Canada) using
the above magazines we can promote.

Joint promotions
This form of promotion is particularly useful to reduce costs when budgets take a beating. However it
prudent to pick the right partner of a similar status and reputation to enhance and complement each other’s
image.
Prestigious dinner dance
This is a platform commonly used by many to gain mileage by granting tickets at selective. Prestigious
DINNER DANCE. The objective can be either for strategic or tactical advantage. However the key is to
ensure the vale is not diluted by other sponsors so that being exclusive would be productive.
Sales Flyers and NEWS Highlights
This is comparatively an expensive mechanism of expanding your reach to selective target markets and these
factors would be given due to consideration in this regard. These factors would be given due consideration.
Indoor/outdoor sporting events
This exercise is primarily goodwill amongst our key revenue contribution and a productive platform to
interact and exchange idea. Such occasions can be used to our advantage when promoting new destination,
new generation of air craft and increase in flight frequency, new routs e.t.c..
Press briefings and press releases
Organizing press briefings to ensure that the press accurately pick up and take interest in the message that
Ethiopian airline whishes to send out is a viable option. Carefully construction press releases that can be
distributed at low cost can also increase brand awareness.
Coffee morning and similar events
These events are organized by many professional association and organization year round such as the
chartered secretaries association, foreign Embassies and leading hoteliers etc. A database is in place to target
these events at a minimum cost.
Agents seminars
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It is an accepted norm amongst airlines that 70%-80% of total revenue is accepted through travel agent.
Hence a series of low cost update seminars directed at various levels of staff, based on the agenda is
imperative. This is to educate help sustain and reinforcement loyalty and support. A roster should be in place
to active these seminars.
Budgets
Operational revenue 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Passenger 1,000,000,000 2,000,000,000 3,000,000,000 3,500,000,000 4,000,000,000
Fright 400,000 600,000,000 700,000,000 800,000,000 850,000,000
Charter 300,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,550,000 2,550,000
Excess baggage 600,000 700,000 800,000 1,000,000 2,000,000
Mail 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 3,000,000 3,500,000
Commission 20,000,000 25,000,000 30,000,000 38,000,000 45,000,000
Customer service 600,000,000 700,000,000 900,000,000 1,000,000,000 1,450,000,000
Subsidiaries 500,000,00 550,000,000 650,000,000 700,000,000 850,000,000
Aviation school 400,000,000 500,000,000 600,000,000 675,000,000 700,000,000
Maintenance, repair 177,700,000 200,000,000 583,200,000 600,000,000 675,000,000
service
Cargo 300,000,000 422,000,000 533,000,000 681,450,000 421,950,000
Total operating revenue 3,000,000,000 5,000,000,000 7,000,000,000 8,000,000,000 9,000,000,000
Operating expenses
Flying operation 837,697 863,930 1,001,327 1,171,225 1,646,299
Direct maintenance 220,932 234,836 268,267 327,776 401,423
Depreciation fly 191,039 196,166 175,400 191,646 275,787
equipment
Rental lease 200,328 198,044 223,983 267,218 247,343
Promotion and sales 187,937 204,189 239,861 259,572 242,058
Passenger service 160,523 187,359 222,254 273,293 354,026
Ground operation 252,306 276,908 302,154 348,833 420,206
Indirect maintenance 34,241 25,949 28,248 36,786 41,602
Deprecation other 37,219 26,024 33,798 48,449 46,446
Customer maintenance 49,570 48,895 59,975 49,425 38,161
Subsidiaries 21,069 26,368 47,868 36,432 41,378
General and 99,846 90,102 94,046 140,217 195,732
administrative
Fuel cost 2,697,707,293 4,597,621,230 6,497,302,819 7,396,849,100 8,196,049,954
Total operating expenses 2,700,000,000 4,600,000,000 6,500,000,000 7,400,000,000 8,200,000,000
Operating profit 300,000,000 400,000,000 500,000,000 600,000,000 800,000,000

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