Ethiopian Airlines will ramp up investment in cargo services and infrastructure and is looking to become a logistics hub for Africa’s growing e-commerce market.

The continent’s largest airline is considering an order for about five Boeing Co. 777 freighters and may also take upcoming Airbus SE A350s, Chief Executive Officer Tewolde Gebremariam said in an interview.

 The carrier is also looking to expand its cargo operations in Addis Ababa and hire new people, he tipped.  

“We are building a new e-commerce warehouse in the cargo terminal,” he noted in an interview from the U.S. “E-commerce is growing especially between China and Africa and we want to continue the leadership,” he said.

While Ethiopian has long been a major operator in freight, the Covid-19 pandemic has elevated demand as stay-at-home rules triggered a boom in online retail, Tewolde stated.

 Carrying goods during the past two years helped many airlines stay afloat, as border closures hammered demand for air travel, Bloomberg reported. 

China is a major investor in Africa and Safaricom Plc, Kenya’s biggest mobile operator, has a partnership with a unit of internet group Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. to facilitate electronic payments, it was learnt.

Cargo now accounts for half of Ethiopian’s revenue, compared with about 15% before the coronavirus, Tewolde mentioned.

 That figure may drop to 30% as passenger services recover, which he said is likely to accelerate when China opens up in the second half of 2022. 

“Cargo is the breadwinner, that’s how we remain profitable and cash positive,” Tewolde expressed. 

“The passenger side is still suffering. We are about 70% of pre-Covid capacity,” he unveiled.

Ethiopian has been announced that it has set to resume flying Max 737 planes shortly.