The Ethiopian Airlines (EAL) said Saturday it will start four new international flights.

EAL CEO Girma Wake told journalists that the airline will start new flights to Brussels, Dakar, Juba (southern Sudan) and Libreville.

Girma said the flights to Dakar, Juba and Libreville will start in March and the flight to Brussels in June this year.

The flourishing oil exploration activities in southern Sudan prompted EAL to fly to Juba, he said.

"There is no international airline that flies to Juba," Girma said. "We will link the city with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda."

He said Air Gabon and Cameroon, which served Libreville, were becoming weak, adding that EAL could have a market share in the new destination.

The EAL boss said his company will increase its flight frequency to African countries.

"We have a plan to bring aircrafts which have higher capacity," he said.

In a related news, EAL leased two Boeing 757 aircrafts. In the past three years, the firm bought eleven new aircrafts (6 Boeing 767 and 5 Boeing 737) from Boeing. The company owns 27 aircraft.

Since the number of fleet was not adequate, the airline recently brought two Boeing 757 aircrafts, said Girma. The leased aircraft started to operate last week.

He said the airline will lease additional jetliners. " Increasing the number of fleet will enable us to avoid delays and flight cancellation," he added. EAL carrier flies to over 50 destinations all over the world.

Source: Xinhua