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| The ATC Tower at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed Int'l Airport as captured by my parents from inside an Ethiopian Airlines on the runway |
This week, Marriott International and Africa's largest airline Ethiopian Airlines announced a partnership that gives travelers more opportunities to earn and redeem Bonvoy points and Sheba miles across both hotel stays and flights. The agreement links Ethiopian Airlines’ network of 145+ destinations with #MarriottBonvoy’s portfolio of 30 brands and almost 10,000 properties globally. This is a partnership that feels personal to me, not only as a Marriott associate but also one who has boarded countless Ethiopian Airlines flights!
I was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria and Ethiopian Airlines
was the first ever plane I flew as a baby. Growing up, school holidays often
meant my family and a wild-eyed little me excitedly driving towards the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport and flying out of Lagos by Ethiopian.
The sighting of the airport's ATC tower created butterflies in my stomach - I
always loved traveling even as a child.
Throughout my 15 years of living in Lagos, we almost always
flew by Ethiopian - it was economical, trusted, and had wide international
coverage. I remember enjoying watching Nigerian movies on those old
aircrafts where in-flight entertainment meant one single screen for communal
viewing. The tall stunning air hostesses and stewards with their polished
gentle voices and elegant traditional uniforms also left an indelible
impression. And the aroma of the coffee they served... I can only imagine it
must have been made from Ethiopian coffee beans that are today exotically
packaged and sold at supermarkets!
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I've always loved
airline food. Ethiopian's hot chicken stew and parboiled rice made for many
comforting inflight meals. Even when I turned vegetarian for a couple of years
in school, I didn't mind the rice with 'gomen wat' (greens prepared Ethiopian
style) and tikil gomen (simple cabbage preparation). And there was always
tomato juice - my flight beverage of choice!
Flying Ethiopian meant a 3-hour layover in Addis Ababa's
Bole International Airport. Once, maybe in the early 2000s, due to some
incident we cannot recall today, the Airlines' passengers, us included, had no
choice but to stay a night or two in Addis Ababa until we could fly out again.
This was the first time I had the opportunity to step outside the Airport and
into the city. We were put up in a modest hotel and once again, I remember two
things: eating a lot of cabbage for meals and visiting the local pharmacy. It
felt like a unique adventure!
There were a few times I flew solo, mostly to visit family in Lagos when I was pursuing my bachelor's and master's degrees overseas. My next-seat passengers were often Nigerian men, who struggled with the seat size and their arms and elbows dominating the seat dividers - they were fathers, grandfathers and business travelers. While some snored through the long haul flights, others initiated conversation with me. My younger self was reserved, and even more cautiously so whilst I traveled. But once I let my guards down, those conversations were interesting - they were often fascinated at how the large Indian community, particularly, in those days, the Sindhi community I belong to, had called Lagos home for five plus decades. There was only one unpleasant co-passenger who chided me for not sharing my lunch that my mum had prepared for me to enjoy while flying back from Lagos to commence my new university life. Nigerians love Indian food, our spices and the variedness of our cuisines and textures.
I also flew by Ethiopian Business Class on one occasion. The seats were wide and I think I was served smoked salmon, experiencing flavors that were very new for my young palette then. Till today, when I am traveling and happen to see an Ethiopian Airlines on the tarmac, be at it at Heathrow or DXB, its familiar green-yellow-red stripes on its tail tugs at my heart. It still symbolizes 'home', just like in many ways, like Emirates has come to symbolize that for me today.
But now back to business after some reminiscing! Africa's
travel market still is largely untapped. With this partnership, I am excited
for all the frequent African travelers who are also Marriott Bonvoy members (or
will now sign up to be a member) for all the Sheba Miles they can
convert into Bonvoy Points for redemption against varied travel experiences
within Marriott's global portfolio. And it goes the other way around
too. This Bonvoy-ShebaMiles linkage has the potential to incentivize so many
overseas-based travelers to consider African destinations for their next
journey. This partnership comes at a time when savvy travelers are looking for
something new and unexplored, sceneries that we have not been tired of seeing
through numerous posts by Instagram influencers and destinations that are not
on the average traveler's radar - the rich local African cultures are waiting
to be explored!
A British-Pakistani author I follow on my Instagram account
recently traveled from Dubai to Malawi and Zambia. Bravo, I say! Amidst all the
Instagram stories I am seeing (many of them either boring, envy-inducing or depressing), it's
his content that I'm enjoying. Currently he's in Zambia exploring
Lusaka's National Park, local art gallery, and beautiful old churches and mosques. A
sight for my sore eyes! What's on my African bucket list in case you're
curious? Botswana, Ghana and Rwanda - all African countries where
Marriott has presence.
Disclaimer: ChatGPT was not used in the writing of this article. Till today, I take tremendous pride and pleasure in the joys of crafting sentences and the experience of being in flow state when I put thoughts to paper (or laptop keyboard).
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