The event took place at Bole Airport’s VIP lounge with the Ethiopian B767-300 ALO proudly harboring the colors of Star Alliance and the B787 Dreamliner, the first on African soil, parked in the tarmac and in full view as fitting symbols of the highest industry standards and aviation excellence. 
Star Alliance CEB, ministers, government officials, airline employees, flight attendants of Star member airlines wearing their respective uniforms, media representatives and invited guests.
CEO Tewolde and Star Alliance Services CEO Jaan Albrecht signed the deal.
Ethiopian is now connected to the world, through the Star Alliance network of 28 airlines, over 21,000 daily flights, over 1,290 destinations and 189 countries.
CEO Tewolde said the integration process took the hard work, perseverance and skill of Ethiopian employees to bring “our beloved Airline to this success”.
He emphasized that the joining was first and foremost the success of the over 6,500 employees of Ethiopian.
CEO Tewolde said the joining of Ethiopian into the Star family will be mutually beneficial to both Ethiopian and the Star member airlines as it means more daily flights and destinations to Ethiopian and that the alliance membership was one of the pillars of our airlines’ long term strategy, Vision 2025. To other Star Alliance member carriers, the entry of Ethiopian signifies the widest choice of flights across Africa as Ethiopian has more destinations in the continent than any other carrier.
For his part, CEO Jaan Albrecht of Star Alliance Services said with the Ethiopian had taken a big step forward by joining the alliance. 
With Ethiopian Airlines now part of the Star Alliance network, Star is able to offer its customers the widest choice of flights connecting to, from and within Africa, a region of the world in which air travel is enjoying steady growth rates.
With the addition of Ethiopian Airlines, the Star Alliance network in Africa would grow to cover major commercial and political cities of the continent particularly in East, Central and West Africa.
The signing ceremony was crowned with a demo flight to the Semien Mountains for high government officials, the 28 Star CEOs and invited guests on-board the B787, courtesy of Boeing.