Ethiopian Airlines, Africa's largest and fastest-growing airline, earned US $7.02 billion in revenue during the fiscal year 2023/2024, which ended on July 7, Xinhua reports. Mesfin Tasew, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ethiopian Airlines Group, on Monday said that the revenue saw a 14 percent increase compared to the fiscal year 2022/2023.

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In May, the Ethiopian national flag carrier inaugurated a Chinese-built domestic passenger terminal in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The 50-million-U.S.-dollar domestic passenger terminal project at Bole International Airport, includes major expansion and renovation works, and was set to more than double the terminal&039;s annual passenger handling capacity.

The airline flew 577,746 hours during the period, showing a 19 percent increase compared to its total flight hours reported during the previous year, the CEO said in a press briefing.

He said geopolitical conflicts, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Sudan conflict, and the increased fuel prices, have remained the pressing challenges for the global aviation industry.

According to Tasew, despite such hurdles, the airline managed to earn US $7.02 billion by transporting 17.1 million passengers, including 13.4 million international travelers, and carrying 754,681 tonnes of cargo during the period.

Five new passenger aircraft were put into operation during the period, bringing the airline's total fleet to 145.

"With the addition of five international and three domestic destinations, the airline's network expanded to 139 international and 21 domestic destinations, excluding the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport," he said.

"The airline's performance is in line with its 2035 growth strategy, and we would put more emphasis on the addition of network expansion, infrastructure development, and human capital development, among others, to be more competitive internationally."