Africa’s largest airline returns to Durban after nine years with daily flights from December

Ethiopian Airlines is returning to Durban with daily flights to Addis Ababa, nine years after the African aviation giant suspended the route because of seasonal demand pressures.

• Ethiopian Airlines will resume daily flights between Durban and Addis Ababa.
• The new service begins on December 11 using a Boeing 737 MAX.
• The route was suspended in 2017 after seasonal demand pressures.
• The comeback will expand Durban’s access to African and global markets.

The new non-stop service will begin on December 11, connecting South Africa’s King Shaka International Airport directly with Ethiopian Airlines’ main hub in Addis Ababa.

The service will operate daily using a Boeing 737 MAX, according to an announcement by eThekwini Municipality and Durban Direct, with bookings already open.

The return gives travellers and businesses in KwaZulu-Natal direct access to Ethiopian Airlines’ network of more than 130 destinations across Africa and other international markets without first connecting through Johannesburg or Cape Town.

Bizcommunity, which also reported the development, noted that the route will improve access from Durban to destinations across Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America through the airline’s Addis Ababa hub.

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Ethiopian Airlines tries Durban again

The route marks a return to a South African market Ethiopian Airlines previously struggled to sustain.

The carrier first launched flights between Addis Ababa and Durban in December 2015, making the coastal city its third South African destination after Johannesburg and Cape Town.

At the time, Ethiopian operated three flights a week. But less than two years later, the airline suspended the service in August 2017, citing the financial burden caused by seasonal fluctuations in demand.

Passengers were subsequently rerouted through Johannesburg. The airline is now returning with a considerably more ambitious schedule: seven flights a week instead of the three weekly services offered when it entered the market in 2015.

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The comeback comes as international passenger traffic at King Shaka International Airport continues to recover from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Airports Company South Africa said King Shaka handled 5.6 million passengers in the 2025/26 financial year, equivalent to 92% of its pre-pandemic passenger traffic of about 6.1 million.

The airport is South Africa’s third busiest, behind OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and Cape Town International Airport.

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Durban rebuilds its international connections

The Addis Ababa service will strengthen Durban’s connections with international markets at a time when KwaZulu-Natal is trying to expand tourism, trade and air freight.

Through Addis Ababa, passengers from Durban will have one-stop access to cities including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Mumbai, Delhi and Washington, alongside Ethiopian Airlines’ extensive African network.

The direct service also removes the need for passengers and some freight moving between KwaZulu-Natal and East Africa to make an additional domestic connection through Johannesburg or Cape Town.

KwaZulu-Natal authorities expect the route to support tourism, air freight and investment by providing businesses with easier access to markets outside South Africa.

For Ethiopian Airlines, returning with a daily service represents a renewed bet on a market it exited nine years ago.

This time, the airline is returning to a King Shaka International Airport that has recovered most of its pre-pandemic passenger traffic and to an Addis Ababa network that is considerably larger than when Ethiopian first tried the Durban route in 2015.