Star Alliance member, Ethiopian Airlines, yesterday confirmed their intended return to New York, from where they withdrew in 2004 in favor of flights to Washington, DC, at the time. The flights will commence by the end of June this year.

The initially three-times-a-week flights from Addis Ababa – leaving there every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday – will route via Lome and will be operated in conjunction with ET’s partner airline in Togo, ASKY.

The one stop service will use a Boeing B787, offering 24 seats in business class and 246 seats in economy class and also offer cargo space in both directions.

Ethiopian’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam had this to say when making the announcement: ‘We are thrilled to resume our service to New York, our fourth destination in the Americas. New York is one of the world’s most economically powerful cities and including it in our ever expanding network will play a critical role in the expansion of trade, tourism and investment between the fast growing continent of Africa and the United States. I would like to thank all who strived hard to make the route possible’.

New York will be Ethiopian’s third destination in the US after Washington DC and the more recently launched flights to Los Angeles, which route via Dublin in Ireland.