Ethiopian Airlines Flight to Deepen Atlanta’s Connection With Africa – Global Atlanta

“From A to AA” – That’s how Atlanta Mayor andre dickens described the itinerary for a new nonstop flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopiawhich arrived on 16 May with the promise of connecting the city’s sizable African diaspora to the continent.

Mr. Dickens fresh on a six day trip Aimed at establishing business, educational and cultural ties with the Ethiopian capital before the flight took off, the airport’s international terminal received a hero’s welcome during a rousing celebration in the arrivals lobby.

Even before 9 a.m., a large crowd had gathered to celebrate a flight that community members had long believed to be coming. Some of Atlanta’s Ethiopian diaspora, estimated to number in the thousands, said they faced long times with difficult connections and high rents back home in the ancient East African nation.

Mr Dickens said the reception, with upbeat music, dancing and shouts from the crowd, was fitting coming out of a trip where he was made to feel like family, he said.

“They say I look like one of them,” the mayor said to laughter and applause from the audience.

In his remarks, the Ethiopian Ambassador seleshi bekele avulachev Mr. Dickens said that if he had been given an Ethiopian name – abebeWhich translates to “blossom”.

“We are gathered here to witness the opening of a new window of opportunity,” said Mr. Seleshi, who took up his post in Washington in November.

After reading an Amharic poem from a local student and speaking before a traditional coffee ceremony from the drink’s birthplace, Mr Dickens pledged that the flight would lead to new virtual and in-person exchanges.

“The exchange we just made, the transportation—that provides opportunities for this continent and that continent, for this country and that country, for this city and that city, from person to person, opportunities To be able to explore, trade business and products, but also to educate and exchange ideas and bring us closer as people,” Mr Dickens said.

“There is much divided in this world but now, Atlanta and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and America, are bound together even more because of the great vision of Ethiopian Airlines.”

During the visit, the mayor visited a school called cambridge academywhich welcomed the delegation with a display of crafts and music, recalling the mayor’s “Year of Youth” initiative to “empower, educate, and employ Atlanta’s youth in 2023” – a central theme that he held throughout the trip. carried forward during

President of Ethiopian Airlines wake up girma The mayor has been called a “converted Ethiopian” as he outlined the carrier’s more than 70 years of history, which began with the help of former TWA As a landlocked nation, the authorities sought to boost its commercial prospects after World War II.

Mr. Wake said that Ethiopian Airlines sees a special responsibility to connect African Americans to the land of their ancestors, noting that he has been personally affected by a visit Senegal‘S Goree IslandWhere many African slaves passed through the Gate of No Return boarding ships and were bound for life in America.

“There is now a point of no return,” Mr. Wake said.

For ketsela gebru, the new flight enabled a poignant encounter. Atlanta resident took advantage of early ticket price to visit his 101-year-old mother Gondar field, probably for the last time.

“God gave me the opportunity to hug her,” Ms. Gebru told Global Atlanta as she held her mother in the crook of her arm, like she had held as a baby.

Nonprofits and global health organizations looking to reach deeper into Africa also applauded the new flight.

from Gondar too tewodros mane settled in nashville territory years ago after being granted diversity visas by the US government.

“I got lucky, and I won the lottery,” said the software engineer.

Early generations of Ethiopians moved to America because of the conflict; Now they come for the opportunity and to be near family, said Mr. Manay, who now serves as vice president. Ethiopian Community Association in Nashville,

Atlanta’s strong trade ties with Africa should also benefit from the new link.

Beyond Addis Ababa, Secretariat City African UnionThe Atlanta flight will give passengers onward connections to 63 African cities on the airline’s route map in less than three hours.

Atlanta becomes the seventh city that the Ethiopian American airport serves. Officials said the idea for the route came about eight years ago at a conference the two sides had been in contact with for years.

“The arrival of Flight 518 will strengthen our people, our culture and our economies,” said the general manager of the Atlanta airport. Balram Bheodari.