Ethiopian Airlines, a member of Star Alliance, will be resuming for times weekly direct services on its B787 Dreamliner to Singapore on 25 March 2023. Looks like the flight also includes a fifth freedom flight between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. This means that travellers can book a flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and vice versa without having to fly to or from Addis Ababa. Pre-covid, this was the case. We are awaiting confirmation from the airline.
There are currently no direct flights between the two cities today. Ethiopian Airlines previously operated passenger services to Changi Airport from June 2017 to March 2020. In 2019, the airline contributed about 69,000 passenger movements to Changi Airport, a 3% increase from the previous year. It continued to operate ad-hoc Passenger Aircraft Carrying Cargo Services when it suspended its services due to the pandemic and border closures.
ET638 will depart Addis Ababa at 11.20pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and land in Singapore at 2.50pm the next day. It will then continue on to Kuala Lumpur departing Singapore on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 3.30pm and land in Kuala Lumpur at 5.10pm.
The return flight ET639 will depart Kuala Lumpur at 11.15pm on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday and land in Singapore at 12.45am the next day. It departs Singapore at 2am on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and lands in Addis Ababa at 5.50 am
“We are delighted to continue our service to Singapore, which was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. The flight will further expand our network in Asia and create air connectivity for passengers travelling between Africa and Singapore. The new flight will also facilitate trade, investment, and tourism ties between Africa and Singapore. In line with our plan for growing our network around the world, we will keep on opening new routes to enhance connectivity between Africa and the rest of the world via Addis Ababa.”
Mesfin Tasew, Ethiopian Group CEO
Mr Lim Ching Kiat, CAG’s Managing Director of Air Hub Development, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Ethiopian Airlines to Changi Airport again. Ethiopian Airlines has been consistently voted as the Best Airline in Africa, and the network from its Addis Ababa hub is connected with more than 63 destinations on the African continent. This flight between Singapore and Ethiopia will offer more travel options for passengers from our region to visit Africa. For many Singaporeans, Ethiopia could also be an exciting new vacation destination as it boasts many attractions ranging from historic sites such as Axum to breathtaking natural geography such as the Simien Mountains and Blue Nile falls.”
Featured image 19.4.2019 Boeing 787 Dreamliner Ethiopian Airlines taking off from Vienna Schwechat Airport in 19.4.2019 in Vienna, Austria — Photo by adameq2 (depositphotos.com)