Ethiopian Airlines to continue flights to China despite coronavirus outbreak

The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, recently said that stopping flights to China is not a solution to fight novel coronavirus, according to a news report by CGTN Africa.

Gebremariam made the remarks during the 5th Africa Aviation conference held in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, reiterating airline's stand on the issue.

"Flying direct to China doesn't mean we will stop novel coronavirus, because passengers from China can travel to African countries including Ethiopia through various other hubs. That's what the interconnected world means," said Gebremariam.

Gebremariam said that the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to stop flights to China is not a good option as isolating a country because of the novel coronavirus is not fair.

However, Gebremariam admitted the novel coronavirus disease is a major headache for Africa's largest airlines as demand drops due to the outbreak.

"We've seen a 20 percent decline in demand. It's a big shock, but aviation is used to this kind of shock. Diseases, natural disasters, wars, sudden spikes in oil prices, we're used to it," said Gebremariam.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had projected a drop of 4.7% in the revenue of the global aviation industry as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The IATA says African air carriers could see a potential $40 million loss. That could be a devastating blow to struggling airlines that need lucrative Chinese routes to fund expansion.