Ethiopian Airlines will be the first airline based in Africa to serve Chicago.
The carrier said that on June 9, it will begin nonstop service three times a week between Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian capital.
The new Ethiopian Airlines route will become the eighth new international route planned to launch from Chicago in 2018, including new service to Budapest, Venice and London-Gatwick Airport.
Chicago Department of Aviation commissioner Ginger Evans immediately hailed the new Ethiopian service as a breakthrough event for the city.
Ethiopian’s move to serve Chicago comes more than 10 years after South African Airways, another high-profile African carrier, announced it would starting serve Chicago in 2007 from its headquarters hub in Johannesburg, South Africa. But months later, without explanation, South African Airways suddenly reversed its decision to serve Chicago, and nothing has been heard from the airline since then.
But Ethiopian Airlines, which has a strong 4-star rating from Skytrax, the airline industry’s respected independent rating service, looks to be picking up where South African Airways left off.
Ethiopian’s entry into Chicago could become a competitive threat for the three Middle East carriers serving Chicago, namely Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways. Part of their strategy entering Chicago was to provide connecting service to Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Asian destinations not easily reached via other carriers from Chicago.
Now Ethiopian could provide another more attraction option for travelers en route to Africa and possibly beyond. Ethiopian serves 55 destinations in Africa from its hub in Addis Ababa, as well as destinations in the Indian Ocean region.
Ethiopian’s new Chicago route will depart O’Hare on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on a 270-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with 24 angle-flat seats in its Cloud Nine-branded business class and 246 seats in the economy cabin.
The Chicago Department of Aviation expects the new route will generate $70 million in annual economic impact in the Chicago area.
Finding the best beans is a matter of taste, literally. The intense process is known as cupping – tasting and comparing coffee from different roasted beans, grading and then pricing them.
“When the coffee comes to the lab, we assess the coffee quality first by recording the details. Then we weigh the moisture level and we screen the beans for analysis. After that we grind the coffee beans and taste the samples. At the end we check for defective beans,” Assefa explains.
“We sort out the defects manually, by hand. And we sort out the defect according to the defect types. The types are immature, paste damage, foxy, black – all has to be sorted out according to the severity of the defects,” Mubarik Abaoli says.
But not all the best coffee leaves Ethiopia. With 40 percent of the coffee production consumed at home, it remains an important part of everyday life at work, at home and at ceremonies just to celebrate that special cup.
Good news for international travelers toEurope, California and Africa: Ethiopian Airlines has finalized preparations to commence flights to Dublin and Los Angeles starting from June 2015.
The fourth edition of IMEX America, the largest trade show for the international meetings, events and incentive travel industry in the US, will be 13 percent bigger when doors open on Oct 14 at the Sands Expo®, Las Vegas.
Both hosted buyer numbers and the number of US and international attendees are also expected to exceed last year’s levels.
On the show floor, the growth is reflected in new exhibitors as well as larger booths from some key global suppliers. USA & Canadian representation has increased by 16.5 percent; Latin America by 6.5 percent; Europe by 3 percent and Asia-Pacific by nearly 8 percent.
In other areas of the show, hotel groups are up by 26 percent; private sector companies by 37.5 percent, technology suppliers by 20 percent and incentive products by 50 percent.
70 new booths also add to the line-up of new global and US exhibitors giving buyers an even broader perspective on the marketplace.
83 of the show’s previous exhibitors have increased the size of their booths and of these over half have expanded their booths by 50 percent.
There will be a number of different ways to stay up to date with IMEX America during the show. IMEXlive, sponsored by Hilton Worldwide and The Events Network on Bob.tv, will provide rolling video interviews and social media coverage (#IMEX14) on the IMEX America homepage and via the show app. IMEX America TV live will broadcast daily from the show floor at 12 noon Eastern Time (produced by Sonic Foundry, PRG and CNTV). Daily TV headlines will also be broadcast on the IMEX YouTube channel and in the hotel rooms of the host hotels, The Venetian ® | The Palazzo®, on channel 3.
IMEX America starts with its traditional preshow day of professional development and education – Smart Monday, powered by MPI on Monday Oct 13. This is followed by the three-day trade show starting Oct 14. IMEX America takes place at the Sands Expo®, Las Vegas.
Visitors who haven’t registered in advance can still register in-person and onsite for no charge.
Is ISIS planning a terror attack on Buddhism and the travel and tourism industry in Indonesia?
Is ISIS attacking the travel and tourism industry? The Borobudur Temple is a major landmark for travel and tourism to Indonesia and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Indonesian police have been put on alert at the Borobudur Temple after a threat against the world’s biggest Buddhist was made on Facebook by Islamic State supporters.