Pipeline · committee HOLD

Auri Airlines

A named concept under AURION Aviation & Logistics — not a ticket desk.

Pipeline concept · committee HOLD

Auri Airlines

Working name was Wase Airlines. Parent: AURION Global Holdings.

Working brand for a future Ethiopian LCC + cargo vertical under AURION Aviation & Logistics. Intended work is underserved domestic/regional seats and perishable / e-commerce freight — after ECAA authorization and capital. None of that is operating today. The live offer on this portal is a logistics inquiry, not a ticket.

Auri Airlines is a named pipeline concept on this AURION desk. It is not an airline in operation. The 2025 Wase plan lives in Grok shares; figures are hypothetical. ECAA papers, aircraft, and tickets are not claimed. Logistics inquiry is the live action.

Logistics RFQ AuriBulk offtake Auriexpress goods Contact

Live now: Logistics RFQ + AuriBulk lot inquiry + Auriexpress goods (not tickets). Not live: AOC, aircraft, GDS, airway bills, passenger fares.

What this desk does not claim

No Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority air-operator certificate
No aircraft on the register, no lessor LOIs published here
No tickets, no GDS, no cargo airway bills
No $350m raise, no Year-5 10% market share
Not Ethiopian Airlines and not a licensed competitor to it
Not live because a Grok share exists — a share is a document, not an airline

Intended pattern — not a timetable

Domestic (concept): Addis Ababa–Mekelle · Addis Ababa–Gondar · Addis Ababa–Dire Dawa · Addis Ababa–Hawassa
Regional (concept): Nairobi · Djibouti · Kigali · Juba
Fleet in the 2025 plan: Concept fleet in the 2025 plan — not assets of this desk; 7 leased Airbus A320 (180-seat) as a target, not a count we hold; 5 leased Boeing 737-800F as a target, not a count we hold; Diligence note: only 2–3 aircraft after AOC is a bankable first proof; Plan named 600 initial staff. That is a slide, not a payroll.

Plan named perishables and e-commerce toward Dubai, Europe, and China. No offtake letters are on this desk. AuriBulk RFQs and the logistics inquiry are the honest present tense.

How logistics sits in this ecosystem

Auriexpress. Moves sample SKUs and a demo bag. No airway bill, no ticket, no cargo booking.
AuriBulk. Lot RFQ and export-pack checklist. Offtake letters for coffee/flowers would sit here first — still not a freighter.
Aviation RFQ. Shipment-coordination inquiry on /businesses/aviation-logistics/rfq. Staff desk only for engine files.
Contact. Role logistics-partner on /contact. Routed as a desk file, not a booking.
Do not. Selling Addis–Nairobi fares, issuing AWB numbers, or claiming AOC because a concept page is online.

Ethiopian regulatory stack

Not legal advice. Directive 659-2019 details are from a Chilot digest plus a justice.gov.et PDF — confirm against the ECAA original before any filing.

0 · Live on this desk
None
Logistics RFQ, AuriBulk lot inquiry, Auriexpress sample goods
Inquiry theatre. Not a forwarder, not an airline.
1 · Freight forwarding / shipping agency
EIC investment permit (not an AOC)
Book space on other people’s aircraft and ships
EIB 25 May 2026 opened this to 100% foreign ownership (LEX Africa 9 Jul 2026). Implementing directive and capital thresholds still need counsel. This desk is not that permit.
2 · Multimodal transport operator
Transport ministry / multimodal directive (Reporter: 1140/2026, USD 1m paid-up cited 30 May 2026)
Door-to-door chain across modes
Separate from AOC. Not held here.
3 · Commercial air transport (cargo or passenger)
ECAA AOC + business licence (Directive 659-2019) under Civil Aviation Proclamation 616/2008 as amended by 1179/2020
Operate aircraft for hire
Five phases. Digest of 659-2019: own ≥1 Ethiopian-registered aircraft; AOC then business licence; ETB 2.5m blocked deposit; serve ≥3 Ethiopian destinations per week in the validity year. Confirm against ECAA original. Investment permits for air transport are issued by ECAA under Proclamation 1180/2020, not by EIC.
4 · Domestic passenger airline (LCC slide)
AOC plus 49% foreign JV still cited for domestic air transport (ICLG 17 Nov 2025; Chambers Investing In 2026; Reg. 474/2020)
Scheduled passenger seats
Do not confuse with the May 2026 freight-forwarding opening. Small-capacity air transport remains reserved for domestic investors in practitioner guides. Airstrips/heliports were closed to foreign investors in the 2022 ECAA procedure (Haftom Law). HOLD.

Plan figures vs diligence

Copied from the shared 2025 plan (retrieved 24 Aug 2026). Hypothetical. The same share’s red-team rejected several of them. This desk does not re-forecast a live P&L.

Stated Year-1 investment	$350 million (plan)
Stated Year-1 pax / cargo	$35m / $20m (plan)
Stated Year-1 result	$10 million loss (plan)
Year-3 / Year-5 slides	$120m / $200m revenue (plan)
Phase-1 capital (diligence)	$40–80 million

Red-team

Year-1 break-even math does not clear stated costs
The share’s own pass: 450k passengers × ~$70 plus $20m cargo ≈ $51.5m versus $65m costs. Stated break-even does not hold. This desk does not re-forecast a live P&L.
$350m launch is not bankable as packaged
Committee call: HOLD. Credible Phase-1 is $40–80m for AOC plus 2–3 aircraft proof — not 12 airframes and 600 staff on day one.
Five 737-800F against a thin tonnage story is idle metal
Do not staff or lease five freighters on this portal. Cargo starts as offtake letters (AuriBulk / logistics RFQ), then one aircraft if AOC exists.
“10% market share by Year 5” has no denominator on this desk
Not a KPI we publish. Domestic seat totals are not independently measured here.
Passenger airline ownership is not the same as freight forwarding
Domestic air transport is still described as a 49% foreign JV in 2025–26 practitioner guides (ICLG 17 Nov 2025; Chambers Investing In 2026). Freight forwarding was opened to 100% foreign ownership by Ethiopian Investment Board decision of 25 May 2026 (LEX Africa / Dablo Law Firm, 9 Jul 2026; EIC via Ethiopian Embassy Juba 26 May 2026). Confirm both with counsel and EIC/ECAA. Not legal advice.
The 2025 plan’s 115 million population and 7% GDP growth are stale
World Bank country page: about 135.9 million people (2025) and 9.2% GDP growth in FY2024/25. World Bank Open Data population 135,472,051 (2025). Ethiopian Statistics Service publishes a lower official projection — do not treat 115m as current.
Ethiopian Airlines is larger than the plan’s “150 aircraft” slide, and already flies 737-800 freighters
ET corporate “Our Fleets” (HTTP 200 on 24 Aug 2026) lists 147 owned aircraft including 4× B737-800SF. Planespotters listed 163 current as of 18 Aug 2026 — counts differ; this desk cites both and holds none. Competing as a 12-airframe LCC+cargo start-up against that incumbent remains a HOLD.
Scheduled domestic is no longer a theoretical monopoly story
The Reporter (25 May 2024) reported an ECAA letter of 22 May 2024 inviting 12 existing AOC holders (including Abyssinian, TNA, National Airways) to propose scheduled domestic passenger and cargo programmes. Auri still has no AOC. Do not claim empty skies.
Publishing a concept page is not going live as an airline
This portal can host the file, a logistics inquiry, and cargo offtake RFQs. That is online. It is not an operating carrier.

Market DD (2026-08-24)

Committee remains HOLD. Sources below were opened on that date. This is not an offering document.

ecaa.gov.et did not return a readable AOC list from this desk on 24 Aug 2026 (timeout / no HTTP status). Official papers are not claimed.

Gates before any raise language

ECAA pre-application and nominated post-holders (Directive 659-2019 five phases)
Named 51% local shareholder and a signed SHA for domestic air transport (Reg. 474/2020 as still cited for airlines — not the May 2026 freight-forwarding opening)
At least one Ethiopian-registered aircraft on the certificate (659-2019 digest)
AOC first, then a separate business licence; ETB 2.5m blocked deposit cited in the same digest
Lessor LOIs and deposits for even two A320s — not 12 airframes on day one
Soft offtake letters from coffee / flower exporters (AuriBulk path) before any freighter lease
Monthly cash model (CASK/RASK) through AOC and first 12 flying months

Source shares (retrieved 2026-08-24): 24 Aug 2026 share · prior share. ECAA: ecaa.gov.et.