Ethiopian Airlines to continue Asia expansion with Singapore non-stops, giving Changi a needed boost

Singapore Changi is poised to emerge as the Asian hub for Ethiopian Airlines as the African flag carrier looks to introduce non-stop flights on the Addis Ababa-Singapore route in 2015. The new flight could lead to a further strengthening of the Ethiopian Airlines-Singapore Airlines partnership, which already includes seven destinations in Australasia.

The launch of non-stop flights to Ethiopia would be the most significant accomplishment yet in Changi's push to establish a foothold in the fast expanding Asia-Africa market. Local traffic between Singapore and Africa is very limited but Africa can potentially emerge as an important new source for transit passengers, unlocking new growth as Singapore's traffic figures start to flatten.

Ethiopian Airlines has been contemplating serving Singapore non-stop and making Changi its hub for offline destinations in Asia-Pacific since it joined the Star Alliance in late 2011. A final sweetener could be Singapore's newly introduced incentive for long-haul flights and transit passenger growth.