The Ethiopian Airlines Group has managed to convince Somali civil aviation authorities to push back a deadline for the suspension of all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Somalia originally slated to take effect on August 23, 2024.
Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) issued a warning on August 21, notifying the Group that it would be suspending all ET flights to Somalia two days later if the airline failed to address complaints related to “sovereignty violations” in its flight coding system.
The notice accuses the flag carrier of omitting “Somalia” on its schedule for flights destined for airports in the neighboring country, instead including only town and city names and the corresponding airport codes.
“We must emphasize that if these issues are not resolved by 23 August 2024, the SCAA will have no choice but to suspend all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Somalia, effective from the date. This would result in the cessation of Ethiopian Airlines’ services to Somalia,” reads the letter.
Signed by SCAA Director Ahmed Moallin Hassan, it indicates the issue had been brought to the attention of Ethiopian Airlines through a previous notice dated August 14.
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The SCAA also issued a similar notice to the executives of Fly Dubai, an UAE-based carrier, accusing them of the same kind of “sovereignty violations.”
A reply from Mesfin Tassew, CEO of the Group, dated August 22 requests the SCAA to extend the deadline.
“I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated August 21, 2024. We are looking into the issues you have raised in the letter, but the deadline of August 23, 2024 is too short to respond to your request. Hence, in the interest of maintaining the long term relationship developed over the years, this is to kindly request you to give us some more time to review the issues and come back to you with responses,” reads Mesfin’s reply.
Hana Atnafu, head of corporate communications at ET, told The Reporter the Group had reached a consensus with Somali authorities. She disclosed the SCAA had agreed not to suspend Ethiopian flights on August 23, but declined to comment on further details. But Hanna said she “neither confirm nor deny” the letter signed by Mesfin.
“Ethiopian has reached an agreement and we will continue flying to Somalia,” said Hana.
The Authority had also claimed that it has received an “increasing number of complaints” from the Somali public regarding their travel experiences with Ethiopian Airlines.
Getachew Mengestie, head of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, said the issues were operational and did not call for the involvement of his office.
Somalia’s move against the Ethiopian flag carrier is the second of its kind in the last month.
On July 24, 2024, Eritrean authorities issued a notice announcing the suspension of all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Asmara effective September 30, 2024.
The sudden decision, which ET executives called “saddening” and “shocking,” came following a request from Eritrean authorities to increase the frequency of flights to Asmara from 10 to 15 a week.
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