Ethiopian Airlines expands Asian network

Ethiopian AirlinesBANGKOK, Thailand– (TTR Weekly) – Ethiopian Airlines plans to adjust its Asian network, 18 June, adding three new destinations — Ho Chi Minh, Manila and Seoul Incheon.

It will involve delinking Bangkok from its Addis Ababa-Hong Kong service, Hong Kong will be served directly from Addis Ababa instead of four weekly flights routed through Bangkok.

Effective 18 June, the daily Bangkok services will extend to Kuala Lumpur and a new destination Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Until June, the Star Alliance member continues to operate four weekly services Addis Ababa – Bangkok – Hong Kong and three weekly Addis Ababa – Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur services using a 767-300ER.

TTR Weekly emailed  the area manager, who is  based in Bangkok, for more details and clarification, but has so far not received a response, other than an acknowledgement of the email.

Hong Kong will be served directly by daily flights from the Ethiopian capital with flights extending to Seoul or Manila. Three of the daily Addis Ababa – Hong Kong services will fly on to Manila and the remaining four weekly services will serve Seoul Incheon

The airline does not have local traffic rights on the Hong Kong – Seoul Incheon and Hong Kong-Manila sectors.

The move will give the airline two gateways in Asia; Bangkok serving mainland Southeast Asia and Hong Kong serving East Asian cities.

Three of the daily flights to Bangkok will extend to Ho Chi Minh using a 246 seat 767-300ER. Reservations for Ho Chi Minh City are not yet open.

The Addis Ababa – Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur service will increase from three to four weekly flights. Reservation for the fourth service opened 5 February.

Chi MinhSource: routesonline