Ethiopian Airlines Adds Third Mozambique Route with Thrice-Weekly Flights to Nacala
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Ethiopian Airlines will begin flying to Nacala, Mozambique, on 27 October 2026, adding a third destination in the country to its rapidly growing southern African network.
The pan-African carrier said the new service will operate three times a week — Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — with Nacala joining Maputo and Beira as Ethiopian’s Mozambican stops. Flights will be operated by the Boeing 737-8, part of what the airline describes as one of the youngest and most modern fleets on the continent.
Routing via Lilongwe
The service is not a direct Addis Ababa–Nacala flight. Flight ET 875 departs Addis Ababa Bole International Airport at 09:20 and lands in Lilongwe, Malawi at 12:15, before continuing to Nacala, where it touches down at 14:20. The return leg leaves Nacala at 15:10 and arrives back in Ethiopia at 20:05 the same day.
That routing ties Nacala into Ethiopian’s Lilongwe hub operation — one of several regional hubs the group has built out through partner carriers, including ASKY in Lomé, Malawi Airlines in Lilongwe, Zambia Airways in Lusaka and Air Congo in Kinshasa.
A “proud moment,” says CEO
Group CEO Mesfin Tasew framed the launch as a milestone for the airline’s continental ambitions.
“As a pan-African airline, expanding our presence in Mozambique with a third destination is truly a proud moment for us,” Tasew said. “The commencement of this flight will further strengthen the relationship between the people of Mozambique and Ethiopia.”
He added that the route would bring “our renowned, award-winning service to Nacala, connecting the city with our global network,” and reaffirmed the airline’s commitment to “bridge connectivity gaps across Africa and bring every corner of our continent closer to the world.”
Why Nacala matters
Nacala sits on Mozambique’s northern coast and is home to the country’s deepest natural harbour, making it a strategic export corridor for landlocked neighbours as well as a gateway to beaches, islands and protected areas in Cabo Delgado province. Ethiopian said the new flights would reinforce the city’s “economic, commercial, and diplomatic connectivity” for both business and leisure travellers.
The move underscores Ethiopian’s dominance in African aviation. The Star Alliance member currently serves more than 65 destinations on the continent and over 160 worldwide across five continents, and has been named Skytrax‘s Best Airline in Africa for eight consecutive years.
What travellers should know
- Launch date: 27 October 2026
- Frequency: Three weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)
- Aircraft: Boeing 737-8
- Flight number: ET 875 (Addis Ababa – Lilongwe – Nacala and return)
- Total journey time each way: roughly six hours outbound, just under seven hours inbound
Ethiopian has set itself the longer-term goal of becoming one of the world’s top 20 most competitive aviation groups, and routes like Nacala reflect how that strategy depends less on long-haul expansion than on stitching secondary African cities into its Addis Ababa-centred web.
