Ethiopian Airlines named official carrier for this year’s Sullivan Summit

Arusha, Tanzania (eTN) – Once again, Ethiopian Airlines has been announced as the official international carrier for delegates of the eighth Sullivan Summit, which is to be held in Tanzania next week.

President of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation and convener of the eighth Sullivan Summit, Hope Masters, announced in Washington recently that the airline will be the official carrier for the 2008 Leon H. Sullivan Summit.

Operating as the fast expanding air carrier in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines was the official carrier and sponsor for the Africa Travel Association (ATA) 33rd Congress, which ended in Tanzania’s northern tourist town of Arusha last weekend.

The airline will bring two 767 jetliners from Washington, DC to Arusha in Tanzania for the summit, which takes place June 2 to 6. Although the planes will depart from Dulles International Airport on two separate dates (May 28 and May 30), both flights will arrive in Arusha on May 31.

Delegates taking the May 28 flight will receive a two-night stay in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa. Those on the May 30 flight will stop in Zanzibar for one night at the conclusion of the summit.

“The 2008 summit marks the first time we are hosting the event in an East African country. It is only fitting that an East African airline such as Ethiopian Airlines embarks on this journey with us,” Masters said. “Many will be seeing Africa for the first time and I am proud that Ethiopian Airlines will not only be the captains of this voyage, but participants in the experience.”

As the official charter airline, Ethiopian will be recognized in national and international summit publicity efforts before and throughout the conference.

Ethiopian Airlines is Africa’s largest and fastest growing air carrier and had made its first maiden flight from its headquarters of Addis Ababa to Cairo in 1946 and since then, the carrier has grown to serve 50 destinations around the globe, 30 of which are in Africa today. The addition of services to Kuwait and Riyadh will bring the total number of the airline’s international destinations to 52.

Ethiopian also plans to be the first carrier to operate the Dreamliner-B787 in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Ethiopian Airlines operates six flights per week, landing at Tanzania’s international airports of Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar on the Indian Ocean coast and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania’s northern tourist circuit.

Approximately 4000 participants from the United States are expected to attend the event with a number of other delegates coming from Africa. The conference will be running under two main topics namely, “tourism” and “infrastructure.”

The eighth Leon Sullivan conference will be the first of its kind gathering in Eastern Africa to take place on the closer foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.