Eritrea Halts Ethiopian Airlines Flights After Years of Peaceful Relations

Eritrean authorities suspended all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Eritrea effective September 30, 2024. This comes six years after flights resumed due to a 2018 peace deal. Ethiopian Airlines was informed without specific reasons and called it shocking and saddening, especially after a recent request to increase flight frequency.

Eritrean authorities have abruptly suspended all Ethiopian Airlines flights to the East African nation starting September 30, 2024, the airline announced on Wednesday.

Flights between Ethiopia and Eritrea had resumed in 2018 after a two-decade hiatus, thanks to a peace agreement that earned Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019.

According to a statement posted on Ethiopian Airlines' Facebook page, the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority issued the suspension notice without disclosing specific reasons.

Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel has yet to comment on the matter, and Ethiopian Airlines spokesperson Hanna Atnafu expressed shock, citing a July 8 letter requesting an increase in flight frequency from 10 to 15 flights per week.

State-owned Ethiopian Airlines, the largest in Africa by revenue and profit according to IATA, is reeling from the unexpected suspension.

(With inputs from agencies.)