Addis Ababa– Ethiopian Airlines on Friday night rejected media reports declaring that it would reroute flights to prevent Somali airspace, which had actually formerly been used for flights en path to Asia.
On Friday afternoon, BBC Amharic reported that the airline company has actually suspended flights to Somalia, selecting rather to fly towards Djibouti before continuing over main Asia. The business got to this choice due to the absence of “dependable air traffic services” from Somali air traffic controllers, pointing out Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew.
The airline companies mentioned on Twitter that the report about the CEO’s remarks on the Somali airspace scenario is incorrect and distorted. “Ethiopian Airlines has actually not stopped flying over the Somali airspace and Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO did not state that it is risky to fly over Somali airspace. Appropriately, we ask for BBC Amharic to remedy the report it has actually provided on the topic,” it stated.
The BBC post priced quote Mesfin as stating that the choice to suspend the flight came from an event recently, where an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis to Dubai directly prevented an accident with a Qatar Airways flight due to uncertain interaction from air traffic controllers stationed in Mogadishu.
The event happened in the middle of a conflict in between Ethiopia and Somalia worrying a current contract, permitting Ethiopia to rent 20 km around the port of Berbera for its navy and industrial activities. In exchange, according to Somaliland, Ethiopia would acknowledge it as an independent state. Somalia, which still concerns Somaliland as part of its area, is firmly insisting that the arrangement be canceled.
Information from the FlightRadar24 flight tracking site suggests that the airline company’s flights on Friday night did make use of Djibouti’s airspace, despite the fact that the airline company has actually continued to utilize Somalia’s airspace for freight flights.
Ethiopia Observer