We also carried 740,000 tonnes of cargo, which is nearly double pre-Covid," he said. The airline turned to freight when passenger traffic fell, including converting some of its passenger aircraft to transport cargo. But, he said, the pandemic's effects can still be felt in the form of "high inflation... which translates into high operating costs for us (and) high fuel price." The controversies have not dented the carrier's bottom line, with Mesfin saying the airline intended to "attain certain key milestones by 2035". "Today it is twice as expensive as a jet fuel -- jet fuel today constitutes for us about 40 percent of our total cost.

Source: Ethiopian News July 28, 2023 08:45 UTC