ADDIS ABABA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's national air carrier Ethiopian Airlines (ET) joined forces on Thursday with Microsoft to launch a new skill development program.

The collaboration is to launch Apprenticeship Factory which will train young ICT graduates and equip them with skills to become ICT professionals and software engineers in the airline industry.

After completing their apprenticeship, graduates will have access to jobs at Ethiopian Airlines and its affiliate airlines in Africa.

Speaking at the launching, Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of ET, said the world has become a "small village" where information travels fast, and equipping oneself with ICT knowledge is a requirement for success.

"We live in an age of technological disruption, with increasingly robots replacing human labor, if Africa is to leapfrog other parts of the world it needs to be technologically capable," he added.

ET, Africa's most successful air carrier with more than 110 international destinations and 100 plus aircraft fleet, has in recent years revamped its ICT division, launching in December a flight mobile application for customers.

Gebremariam further said ET's success in ICT department will determine its dominant share among African airlines in important economies like China where it currently flies to five destinations.

Ethiopian Airlines currently flies to Guangzhou, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu with plans to start new flight route to Shenzhen in June this year.