Benghazi was briefly served between and . During 1957, a third DC-6B was purchased. Likewise, that year the airline had been asked to take a Lockheed L-749 that had been given as a gift to the Emperor, who declined it. Ethiopian paid  million for this airframe, and it was incorporated into the fleet on 4 June; the aircraft was destroyed by fire on 10 Jul in an accident in Sudan. Two Yemeni cities, Hodeida and Taiz were first served on . On , flights to Wadi Halfa were terminated. The incorporation of three Douglas DC-6Bs took place between and , and EAL started a new link between Addis Ababa and Athens, via Cairo, using these recently delivered aircraft. On 21 Jun, the route was extended both to the north and to the south so that Frankfurt and Nairobi became linked by the same corridor, operated with DC-6Bs. By this time, the Convairs were redeployed to serve domestic and regional routes. Given that radio operators were no longer required as part of flight crews, they were assigned other tasks with the airline. Swissair handled the pilot training for the DC-6B aircraft at Zurich. The suspension of fifth freedom rights between Djibouti and Aden prompted the discontinuance of the route that linked them. EAL joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on . During the year, two Boeing 720Bs were ordered and scheduled for delivery in , two more DC-6Bs entered the fleet, services to Nairobi were suspended once more and the airline list of domestic destinations saw the incorporation of Bulchi, Dodollo, Lalibela and Masawa.