The Ethiopian Airlines (EAL), the country's national carrier, started its direct flight to Dakar, Senegal on Saturday in a bid to connect the west African region to America.

EAL said in a press release that the flight was EAL's 46th international and the 28th continental route.

EAL has this plan of connecting all four corners of the continent with Europe and America, said the press release.

The airline has scheduled flights also to Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, Lome and Bamako, it said.

EAL has secured 104 million birr (12 million U.S. dollars) in profits during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. The money was secured in the nine months since July 2005 despite the ever-increasing price of petroleum, company CEO Girma Wake said recently while presenting a nine-month performance report of the airliner to the lower House of People's Representatives.

EAL is a major international air carrier and the largest African Airline. It offers convenient service from the United States, Europe and Asia.

It provides domestic and international air service between Ethiopia and other countries. It has a good safety record and is one of the few profitable African airlines. It also provides training and maintenance to more than a dozen African and middle eastern airlines.

Source: Xinhua