en.Wedoany.com Reported - Ethiopian Airlines has recently launched a route via Geneva, Switzerland to Lyon, France, with the Geneva-Lyon segment covering a flight distance of just 98 kilometers (53 nautical miles) and a duration of 45 minutes, making it the shortest Airbus A350-900 operated route in Europe.
The transit service officially began operations on July 2, with a frequency of three flights per week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday). Ethiopian Airlines does not hold traffic rights on the Geneva-Lyon segment and cannot carry passengers solely between the two cities. Previously, the airline's transit point in Geneva was Brussels, Belgium, which has now been updated to Lyon.
The primary aircraft operating this route is the Airbus A350-900. According to the route schedule, a Boeing 787-9 will be temporarily deployed for the remainder of July, with a planned switch back to the Airbus A350 in August.
In addition to Lyon, Ethiopian Airlines also operates a route via Geneva to Manchester Airport (MAN) in the UK, with the same frequency of three flights per week. Unlike the Geneva-Lyon segment, the airline holds fifth-freedom traffic rights between Geneva and Manchester, allowing it to compete directly with easyJet. The Manchester route was initially launched as a direct flight in December 2018 with four flights per week, and was changed to a stopover in Geneva starting in October 2022. With the addition of the Lyon route, the airline now serves three destinations in France: Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), and Lyon Airport (LYS), operating 14 flights per week, including daily flights to Paris, four weekly flights to Marseille, and the newly launched three weekly flights to Lyon via Geneva.
Ethiopian Airlines is one of the largest and fastest-growing airlines in Africa. The company is advancing the construction of a mega hub airport, with a project investment of $12.5 billion. Once completed, the new airport will have an annual passenger capacity of approximately 110 million and can accommodate around 270 aircraft, supporting the airline's future capacity expansion.
