Ethiopian Airlines has been banned from flying to neighbouring Eritrea after the carrier – the largest and most successful airline in Africa – was accused of allowing organised theft and ‘pilferage’ from passengers’ luggage.
On Wednesday, Ethiopian Airlines confirmed that it had received an official notice from the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority that it would be banned from operating flights between Ethiopia and Eritrea from September 30, 2024.
A copy of the letter has since been leaked online, which states: “Cognizant of the consistent and persistent malicious trading practices pursued by Ethiopian Airlines in general and systematic and organized passengers’ luggage theft, pilferage, damage, prolonged delays and loss with no compensation in particular, coupled with unjustified and unwarranted price hikes and other irregularities witnessed”.
The letter continues: “Moreover, repeated and relentless calls made on Ethiopian Airlines to rectify the above referenced pitfalls and other irregularities imposed on the travelling public, borne no fruit yet”.
“Bearing that in mind, the Civil Aviation Authority is compelled to suspend all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Eritrea, with effect from 30 September, 2024.”
Eritrea and Ethiopia have had a particularly fraught diplomatic relationship, although a ‘momentous’ peace deal in 2018 restored diplomatic relations between the two countries for the first time in years.
In recent months, however, tensions have been back on the rise stemming from landlocked Ethiopia’s decision to strike a deal with Somaliland for access to the Red Sea port of Berbera in the Gulf of Aden.
As part of the deal, the government of Somaliland were to receive a stake in state-controlled Ethiopian Airlines.
Ethiopia has been landlocked since 1993, when Eritrea declared independence, and for years, the country had been reliant on the small country of Djibouti for port access.
