Ethiopian Airlines is returning to Copenhagen after last serving the Danish capital in 2003. It'll route via Vienna, meaning that Brussels (which currently mainly runs via Vienna) will be entirely de-linked and will be daily nonstop in both directions from mid-May. Since joining Ethiopian's network in 2014, Vienna has had flights continue to Stockholm, Brussels, Milan, Geneva, and Marseille. Now it's the turn of Copenhagen.

Ethiopian Airlines to Copenhagen

Taking off on May 22nd will be a 5 weekly service between Addis Ababa and Copenhagen, according to Ethiopian Airlines' latest schedule upload available via Cirium, which is now available for booking. It'll use the 270-seat 787-8 and the 315-seat 787-9, with more flights by the smaller variant. It is scheduled as follows, with all times local:

• Addis Ababa to Vienna: ET724, 00:35-05:55 (6h 20m block time)
• Vienna to Copenhagen: ET724, 06:55-08:40 (1h 45m)
• Copenhagen to Vienna: ET725, 19:45-21:25 (1h 40m)
• Vienna to Copenhagen: ET725, 22:25-05:45+1 (6h 20m)

Click here for Copenhagen-Addis flights.

Alas, it does not seem that Ethiopian has fifth freedom traffic rights between Vienna and Copenhagen. That's a shame, but it isn't too surprising: it doesn't from Vienna to Brussels either.

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Copenhagen to Africa

According to booking data, more than 240,000 people traveled between Copenhagen and sub-Saharan Africa in 2019, with some 328 passengers daily each way (PDEW). As Copenhagen had no nonstops to this region, everyone connected en route. More passengers transited in Doha with Qatar Airways than anywhere else, followed by Turkish Airlines via Istanbul and KLM over Amsterdam.

South Africa was far and away the most popular country, followed by Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia itself, Nigeria, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Gambia. There's a big emphasis on outbound leisure demand. In 12th place was Somalia, the result of the diaspora in Denmark.

Click here for Copenhagen-Johannesburg flights.

At the airport level, Copenhagen to Johannesburg was the largest market, followed by Cape Town, Nairobi, Zanzibar, Accra, Entebbe, Addis Ababa, Mauritius, Durban, and Dar es Salaam. Ethiopian Airlines serves all of these places except Mauritius and Durban. With Ethiopian's two-stop operation, typically longer durations and therefore a less competitive offering than available with other carriers, Ethiopian will often have to rely more on lower fares to capture demand.

Click here for Copenhagen-Cape Town flights.

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Ethiopian's 17th European destination

Examining next summer's Europe plan, Copenhagen will be Ethiopian's 17th European destination on a passenger basis, up by one over summer 2019. With nonstop and one-stop flights, it will serve Athens, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul Airport, London Heathrow, Manchester, Marseille, Milan Malpensa, Moscow Domodedovo, Oslo, Paris CDG, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna, and Zurich.

Addis Ababa-Athens was added in December 2019 and has been de-linked from Moscow, while Zurich came about in October 2022 and is served via Milan. However, compared to summer 2019, Ethiopian no longer serves Dublin (except on a refueling basis en route to North America) or Madrid.

Have you flown Ethiopian? If so, share your experience in the comments.

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  Ethiopian Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  ET/ETH

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Addis Ababa Bole International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1945

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  CEO:

  Mesfin Tasew Bekele

  Country:

  Ethiopia