A member of the ground crew directs an Ethiopian Airlines plane at the Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa August 21, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia's state-owned air carrier Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is to start flights to Chengdu, the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, on May 22, adding its roster of destinations to the world's most populous nation to five.

Chengdu is known to be a tourist hotspot in China with attractions including giant pandas and Sichuan's historic artifacts and culinary tradition.

In a statement sent to Xinhua on Thursday, Ethiopian Airlines says it plans to inaugurate the new destination in the presence of China's Ambassador to Ethiopia La Yifan, ET's CEO Tewolde Gebremariam and Abadula Gemeda speaker of Ethiopian Parliament at a ceremony on Sunday.

ET currently has four destinations, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, one of China's leading manufacturing regions.