Dammam becomes Ethiopian's 8th destination in the Middle East and 64th worldwide.
With this new service, Dammam will be connected to dozens of cities in Africa via Ethiopian's hub at Addis Ababa, with convenient connections available to and from cities such as Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos, Accra, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe and Dakar, he said.
Saudi Arabia is the oldest destination in the region for Ethiopian Airlines and is the only country where the airline flies to three points in one country in that region, the existing two points being Riyadh and Jeddah.
"Dammam is assuming increased importance as Eastern Province capital has a large metropolitan and industrial area and major seaport, aside from being a center for petroleum and natural gas," Ethiopian CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said.
"Dammam is also well known for its tourist attractions such as the Coastal Sports Center, Half Moon Bay, King Fahd Park and Alkhleej Makarim Village where tourists can engage in mountain climbing, hiking, skiing or surfing," he said, adding that the new services to the Eastern Province capital provide opportunities for businessmen as well as tourists to explore its investment and leisure potentials.
With the commencement of the new services, Ethiopian, described as one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, has announced a promotional fare from Addis Ababa to Dammam starting from $360 for a roundtrip ticket, which is valid for travel until Nov. 30, 2012.
