Ethiopian Airlines and Air Djibouti formalise multimodal sea-air agreement with Djibouti port
Every year, approximately 850,000 tonnes of goods destined for Africa pass through Dubai. The goods offloaded by ship then reach Africa by air. Djibouti and Ethiopia now hope to capture half of this volume, with Djibouti's seaport, the capital's airport, and Ethiopian Airlines and Air Djibouti at the centre of these operations.
Djibouti Ports & Free Zones Authority (DPFZA), the manager of the port of Djibouti, hosted the signing ceremony of the multimodal sea-air transport agreement between International Djibouti Industrial Park Operation (IDIPO) and Ethiopian Airlines and Air Djibouti on Thursday 3 March 2022.
Present were Aboubaker Omar Hadi, President of the DPFZA; Dr Mohammed Hassen, Deputy Head of Mission of the Ethiopian Embassy in Djibouti; Jeffery Ho, CEO of IDIPO; Mr Abel Alemu, Managing Director of Ethiopian Airlines Cargo and Logistics Service; Abdourahman Ali, CEO of Air Djibouti.
This signing is the culmination of four months of trials that began last year. During this period, "DIFTZ has provided a competitive sea-air multimodal service that enables customers to manage their supply chains more cost effectively [...] This service is 50% faster than sea freight and 50% cheaper than standard air freight".
The very first sea-air service under this trial period was launched on 28 October 2021. For this first operation, thanks to efficient coordination between stakeholders, 17 tonnes of cargo (a mix of electronics and household appliances) from Shenzhen had been decompartmentalised in the Djibouti Free Trade Zone (DIFTZ), then stored in Air Djibouti's hangar, before being shipped via Ethiopian Airlines Cargo to Lagos and Kano in Nigeria.
"With the extensive networks of Ethiopian Airlines and Air Djibouti, this innovative service will certainly strengthen Djibouti's position as a trade hub to unlock Africa's economic potential and promote the regional economy," says DIFTZ.
The agreement is expected to help double Ethiopian Airlines' cargo service. Eventually, the Ethiopian flag carrier - Africa's largest cargo operator - plans to carry more than 400,000 tonnes of cargo, mainly from China to countries on the continent. It can rely on its dedicated fleet of nine Boeing 777-200Fs and three 737-800SFs, reinforced during the health crisis by a few temporarily converted aircraft.
