Ethiopian Airlines flight, Manchester to Addis Ababa Bole ADD / HAAB

Ethiopian Airlines (commonly referred to as Ethiopian), formerly Ethiopian Air Lines (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by the country's government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to international flights in 1951. The firm became a share company in 1965 and changed its name from Ethiopian Air Lines to Ethiopian Airlines. The airline has been a member of the International Air Transport Association since 1959 and of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) since 1968. Ethiopian is a Star Alliance member, having joined in December 2011. The company slogan is The New Spirit of Africa. Ethiopian's hub and headquarters are at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, from where it serves a network of 125 passenger destinations—20 of them domestic—and 44 freighter destinations. The airline has secondary hubs in Togo and Malawi. Ethiopian is Africa's largest airline in terms of passengers carried, destinations served, fleet size, and revenue. Ethiopian is also the world's fourth-largest airline by the number of countries served. A CNN investigation alleged that Ethiopian Airlines Cargo airplanes transported weapons to airports in Eritrea during the Tigray War. The airline billed Ethiopia's Ministry of Defence at least six times in November 2020. The article's reporter claimed that using civil aircraft to "smuggle" military weapons violates international aviation law