Ethiopian Airlines Group has merged with the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise to form the Aviation Holding Group following regulatory approval by the Council of Ministers.

The new Holding Group comprises of Ethiopian Airports Enterprises, Passenger Airline, Cargo Airline & Logistics Company, Ethiopian Aviation Academy, Ethiopian Inflight Catering Services, Ethiopian MRO Services and Ethiopian Hotel & Tourism Services.

The merger is part of Ethiopian Airlines’ 15 year strategic plan dubbed “Vision 2025”, and companies under the airline have been preparing themselves to stand autonomously for the last seven years since the launch of the plan.

The merger is expected to help the airline cope with the competitive global aviation market and the enterprise has been running 23 airports, of which four are international and some are under construction.

Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive officer, Tewolde Gebremariam says: “The primary objective of the merger is to make our airports’ services more effective and efficient so as to enable it provide global standard customer services with the aim of promoting competitiveness with international airports in the region.”