Ethiopian Airlines has received approval to operate seven weekly flights to Tokyo following the renewal of the bilateral air services agreement between the two countries.

The milestone came to fruition after a virtual meeting held on January 25 between Getachew Mengste, Director-General of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, and Takahashi Yasuhito, Director of Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, a division of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism.

Under the updated agreement, both nations have agreed to increase weekly flight frequencies between Addis Ababa and Japan from five to seven, while also removing previous restrictions on Ethiopian Airlines' fifth freedom rights.

Previously, Ethiopian Airlines was constrained by a limitation on transit passenger capacity, allowing only 50% loading capacity on flights transiting Korea from Addis Ababa to Japan. However, this restriction has been lifted under the new agreement, as confirmed by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority.

Although there are currently no regular flights from Japan to Addis Ababa, should such flights commence in the future, the terms of the agreement will apply accordingly.