By Lucy Adautin
Ethiopia’s state-owned Ethiopian Airlines has announced the suspension of its flights to neighboring Eritrea, citing unspecified challenging operating conditions.
Earlier, Eritrea had indicated plans to halt all Ethiopian Airlines flights by the end of this month.
Flights between Ethiopia and Eritrea had resumed in 2018 after two decades of interruption, following a peace agreement and the restoration of diplomatic ties that later earned Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed a Nobel Peace Prize.
According to five diplomats, the suspension signals a significant deterioration in relations between Asmara and Addis Ababa, though the risk of renewed conflict remains low for now.
The two countries had previously severed ties in 1998, when a two-year war between the two nations started over their disputed border.
Eritrea fought alongside Ethiopia in a war that erupted in November 2020 against regional forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, but relations soured once again after Asmara was excluded from the peace talks that ended that conflict two years later, and because some of its troops remain in Tigray.
“Ethiopian Airlines regrets to inform its valued customers travelling to/from Asmara that it has suspended its flights to Asmara effective Sept.3 … due to very difficult operating conditions it has encountered in Eritrea that are beyond its control,” Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement recently.
The airline announced that it would attempt to rebook affected passengers on alternative airlines at no extra charge or offer refunds, though it did not elaborate on the specific conditions it cited. Eritrea’s Information Minister, Yemane Gebremeskel, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ethiopian Airlines, according to the International Air Transport Association, holds the top position in Africa in terms of revenue and profit.
