Ethiopian Airlines hit Barbadian soil for the first time on Wednesday to much fanfare.
The inaugural flight which departed from Lagos, Nigeria arrived at the Grantley Adams International Airport at around 10:30 am with 103 passengers.
Passengers attending the upcoming Africa Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2022) at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Center from 1-3 September 2022 were greeted on the tarmac by the Minister of State for Foreign Trade and Business Development, Burrat Sandra, Tourism Barbados. Chief Executive Officer of Marketing Inc (BTMI) Jens Thraenhart, Kaye Brathwaite Chief Executive Officer of Invest Barbados and other officials.
Speaking to the media, Minister Husbands asserted that this flight was important to Barbados and the Caribbean because it facilitated the opportunity to export and import goods and services to the African continent.
“This inaugural flight that has brought all these delegates from Nigeria and several other African countries is important for the Caribbean and Barbados in particular.”
“Barbados and the Caribbean have pursued this policy of self-trade because we understand that if we are going to be able to build large enterprises, we must be able to engage markets that have the capacity to buy our goods and that are willing to accept our goods and at the same time offer us the opportunity to buy goods and services from others.”
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BTMI CEO Jens Thraenhart emphasized the importance of the inaugural flight, noting that it signifies building a closer relationship with Africa.
“I think this is a historic moment as we said, after 1966 that was the first time an Ethiopian Airlines plane touched down in Barbados, so we’re very excited about that and I think this is just the beginning of building a closer relations with Africa and the various nations of Africa.”
He added: “There is a lot of heritage that links Barbados and the African continents, particularly West Africa, so this conference is of fundamental importance in terms of strengthening those ties.”
