As part of its international expansion, Ethiopian Airlines announced last week that it will resume direct flights between Abidjan’s Port Bouet Airport (ABJ), Ivory Coast, and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) from 29 May 2023.
This will see Africa’s largest airline return to the route (origin and final destination in Addis Ababa) after almost three years.
The carrier operated from its base at Bole International Airport (ADD) in the Ethiopian capital to New York via Abidjan between June 2019 and March 2020, when it de-scheduled services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since October that year, the airline has had flights from Addis Ababa to the American city with a stopover in Lomé (LFW), Togo.
“We are excited to bring back our direct flight between Abidjan and New York”, said Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. “We have been increasing frequencies and adding new destinations in Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Asia in the past couple of months and we are delighted that the Abidjan-New York route is coming again”, he added.
In the United States, the airline currently serves New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) and Washington-Dulles (IAD) airports. It will also launch flights between Addis Ababa (ADD), Dublin (DUB) and Atlanta (ATL) on 16 May.
Ethiopian Airlines is the largest operator in terms of available seat kilometers (ASK) between Africa and the United States, as well as the African airline with the most destinations in North America.
Frequency of flights between Abidjan and New York
Ethiopian Airlines will offer four flights per week, all operated by Boeing 787-8 aircraft with a 24-seat Business Class configuration and 246 seats in Economy.
- Flight ET 512: Addis Ababa (ADD) – Abidjan (ABJ) – New York (JFK). Departures on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
- Flight ET 513: New York (JFK) – Abidjan (ABJ) – Addis Ababa (ADD). Departures on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
