Frozen bank account behind Ethiopian Airlines suspension of flights to Eritrea

ADDIS ABABA - A frozen bank account necessitated the suspension of Ethiopian Airlines flights to Eritrea, the national carrier announced, just hours before Eritrea imposed a curfew for its planes over what it termed as 'harassment and loss of luggage'.

Before introducing the mysterious claims of bank account, Ethiopian Airlines claimed that flights were halted due to “difficult operating conditions” in Eritrea that were “beyond its control.”

Chief Executive Officer Mesfin Tasew explained that the airline was informed on 31 August 2024, that its account in Eritrea had been blocked. This, he said, led to the abrupt decision to suspend flights to Eritrea, a neighbouring country to the north.

“This has made it impossible for us to access our funds,” Mesfin said. He added that this situation left the airline with “no choice but to suspend all flights to Asmara.”

Mesfin noted that the current dispute was the latest development in an ongoing issue between the national carrier and the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority, Addis Standard reports.

According to him, the issues escalated on March 26th this year when the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority requested for compensation of the lost luggage. “We asked for the details of the lost bags, but we did not receive the information,” he explained.

Mesfin also highlighted additional restrictions imposed by the Eritrean authorities. “We were asked to reduce our flights from 14 to 10 per week and were limited to using smaller aircraft,” he said.

The CEO stated that although the airline was later permitted to increase flights to 15 per week and resume the use of wide-body planes in July 2024, Eritrean authorities blocked money transfers from the airline’s account on 25 July 2024. The airline was subsequently informed that its account was frozen, Mesfin said.

“We tried to contact the concerned bodies, but our efforts bore no results,” he said. However, he confirmed that the airline would continue to use Eritrean airspace and pursue diplomatic efforts to retrieve the blocked funds.

Last week, Ethiopian Airlines said that was is “seeking clarification from the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority” and was committed to resolving any issues amicably and promptly,” following a decision by the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority announcing the suspension of all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Eritrea, effective September 30, 2024.

GAROWE ONLINE