Hyderabad, Apr 27 (IANS): Connecting Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to African markets amid ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, Ethiopian Airlines launched cargo services between Addis Ababa and Hyderabad.

The maiden cargo flight of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa landed at GMR-led Airport on Sunday night at 8.16 p.m. and departed to the Ethiopian capital three hours later.

This new direct connection between Hyderabad and Ethiopia throws open new opportunities to reach out to the markets in Africa and beyond leveraging the robust cargo network of the Ethiopian Airlines, the Airport operators said.

Expected to be operating one frequency per week, Ethiopian Airlines will be operating Boeing 777-300 aircraft with a capacity of 50 MT per flight.

With the latest addition of Ethiopian Airlines, GMR Hyderabad International Airport is now handling 12 freighters weekly along with some special cargo charters, which are connecting Hyderabad to all major international destinations in the United States, Europe, Middle-East, Africa and the Far East.

The key scheduled freighters operating from Hyderabad International Airport includes Cathay Cargo, Turkish Cargo, Qatar Cargo, Lufthansa Cargo, SpiceXpress Cargo (Domestic and international) and BlueDart Cargo.