The African carrier will expand to Gatwick in November with a three-times-weekly service from capital Addis Ababa, starting 21 November. It last served Gatwick in 2005 and 2006.
Ethiopian will fly the route on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, complementing its daily service at slot constrained Heathrow airport.
Flight ET718 will depart Addis Ababa at 12.15am arriving Gatwick at 5.15am. Return flight ET719 will depart Gatwick at 10.10am arriving Addis Ababa at 8.40pm.
Ethiopian will operate the route using a two-cabin Airbus A350-900 aircraft featuring business and economy, while offering onward connections with its global network which spans more than 60 destinations in Africa alone, as well as the Far East, the Americas and Asia.
Henock Woubishet, Ethiopian’s area manager UK and Ireland, said the UK was "a strong and important market for Ethiopian". The carrier also operates a five-times-weekly Manchester service to Addis Ababa.
Woubishet added the new route would provide "much-needed" new passenger and cargo capacity.
Stephanie Wear, Gatwick’s vice-president of aviation development, said she was pleased to welcome Ethiopian back to the Sussex airport, adding it highlighted "strong demand for slots" at Gatwick.
"As the largest carrier in Africa, this is an excellent addition to our network and adds a valuable, direct connection to eastern Africa," said Wear.
