Eritrea has banned Ethiopian Airlines from its airspace from September 30, 2024, alleging “passenger abuse and operational issues.”

The Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority cited numerous complaints such as theft of luggage, frequent flight and baggage delays, and inadequate compensation for affected passengers and advised travellers booked on the carrier’s flights beyond September 30 to make alternative arrangements.

Ethiopian Airlines operates five weekly flights to Asmara. Other carriers on the route are Saudi Arabian, Turkish, and Egyptian.

Asmara said despite repeated quests to address these issues, Ethiopian Airlines failed to do so.

“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,” the Eritrean Civil Authority said.

“In light of that, all Ethiopian travellers destined to the state of Eritrea are hereby advised to adjust their flights and subsequently look for other options as appropriate.”

The airline denied the allegations while tasking the Eritrean authorities to clarify their statement.

"Ethiopian Airlines has received a notice from the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority through a letter indicating the suspension of all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Eritrea, effective September 30, 2024," the airline said in a statement.

"The specific reasons for this suspension have not been disclosed to us." 

This decision, outlined in a notice published in the government newspaper, "Hadas Eritrea," came in the wake of reports of ongoing tensions between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.

Ethiopian has lately been in the news for the wrong reasons after a video circulating on social media showed a passenger being ejected from a flight after her seat was allegedly allocated to a government minister.

The airline’s management also denied wrongdoing but said they had taken “necessary time to investigate the matter thoroughly and bring the factual information to the public.”

But they admitted to have overbooked passengers on flight ET308 to Nairobi.

“The flight experienced an overbooking... Three individuals with standby economy class boarding pass arrived at the boarding gate just a few minutes before the scheduled departure time of the flight,” the Airline said, adding that they were to be transferred to the next flight.

Last week, Ethiopian Airlines announced that tickets for passengers outside Ethiopia must be purchased in US dollars only.

This directive creates a significant hurdle for Eritrean travellers, who previously bought tickets using the local currency.

Flights between Ethiopia and Eritrea resumed in 2018 after two decades of animosity, after a peace deal between the two neighbours that earned Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed a Nobel peace prize a year later.

It marked a significant diplomatic breakthrough, paving the way for the resumption of land transport, trade, and communication services, which had also been affected by the conflict.

The latest spat, however, underlines emerging tensions, as Abiy continues his quest for a sea route.

Read: Ethiopia’s quest for sea access rattles port custodians Eritrea

In October last year, Dr Abiy said that Ethiopia’s claim to sea access was backed by history, as well as a practical necessity due to the economic, demographic and security vulnerabilities its landlocked status imposed on its 120-million strong population. 

Although he played down the use of force, in November, before parliament, he warned that a failure to resolve the issue through negotiations could lead to conflict.

Eritrea did not take this lightly, considering its long conflict with Ethiopia.

Read: Hopes dashed as Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process stalls

From 1952 to 1993, Eritrea and its Red Sea ports had been part of Ethiopia, and it was only a bloody national liberation struggle that delivered Eritrea’s statehood.

There is a section of Ethiopian nationalists who regard Eritrea’s departure as a historic error.

Meanwhile, Abiy’s port quest has sucked in the other neighbours, Djibouti and Somalia. 

Addis and Mogadishu have, since the beginning of this year, been at loggerheads after Ethiopia signed a memorandum on January 1 for the use of the seaports of Somaliland, the separatist federal state.  By LUKE ANAMI, The East African