Ethiopian Airlines Launches Fifth Freedom Flights Between Manchester And Geneva

During the weekend, Ethiopian Airlines increased its current operation out of Manchester International Airport (MAN) to Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD). The carrier has added a new fifth-freedom stop between these two destinations by launching commercial services between Manchester and Geneva International Airport (GVA), Switzerland.

A new fifth-freedom route

On October 30, Ethiopian Airlines increased its operation between Manchester and Addis Ababa to four flights per week, operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

From this date, all flights from Manchester are operating via Geneva, Switzerland. The airline received a fifth freedom grant earlier this year, which allows it to carry passengers on this flight between two countries that are not Ethiopia, the UK, and Switzerland.

This route departs from Manchester at 18:50 local time, landing in Geneva at 21:40. Then it departs from the Swiss city at 22:40 only to arrive at Addis Ababa at 7:30 local time the next day. Meanwhile, the return service departs from Addis Ababa at 1:15, arriving in Geneva at 6:15 and then departing one hour later before landing in Manchester at 8:05 local time.

The aircraft used for this route

These flights operated via Geneva will offer passengers from Manchester a convenient service to Switzerland, said Ethiopian in a statement. Moreover, Ethiopian will be the only full-service carrier on the route. It will employ its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet to fly these routes.

Ethiopian currently operates 19 Boeing 787-8 and eight Boeing 787-9. These have the capacity to carry 270 and 315 passengers in a two-class configuration, according to data by ch-aviation.

Commenting on the new service, Country Manager UK, Mr. Henock Woubishet, said, “We are excited to announce this new route development. While this new service will provide business and leisure travelers, including the traditional Winter Ski market based in the region, a convenient schedule, it also underlines our commitment to providing further connectivity options into the African continent.

Photo: Getty Images.

What’s the fifth freedom of the air?

There are nine freedoms of the air, with only the first five characterized as such by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The remaining four are described as “so-called” freedom because they have not been officially recognized as such by international treaties.

ICAO defines the fifth freedom of the air as “the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, granted by one State to another State to put down and to take on, in the territory of the first State, traffic coming from or destined to a third State.”

There are plenty of examples of the fifth freedom routes across the world. Some of the first that come to mind are Emirates Dubai-Barcelona-Mexico City or Dubai-Rio de Janeiro-Buenos Aires routes. In Europe, we can also find the Bahrain to Athens flight with a stop in Larnaca or Ethiopian Airlines’ Stockholm to Oslo or Milan to Barcelona on Singapore Airlines.

Have you been onboard Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 787 Dreamliners? How was the experience? Let us know in the comments below.