By TESFA-ALEM TEKLE
Ethiopian Airlines has suspended all scheduled flights to Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region after Tigrayan forces reportedly took control of Alula Aba Nega Airport in the regional capital Mekelle from federal police, according to local and security sources.
The state-owned carrier announced Wednesday that flights to Mekelle, Shire and Axum had been suspended “due to the current situation in Tigray region,” without providing further details or specifying when services would resume.
Two local sources told Reuters that Tigrayan forces took control of Mekelle airport from federal police overnight. An airport employee separately told AFP that staff were instructed to return home after being informed that Tigrayan forces had taken control of the airport.
The reported takeover and flight suspension mark a significant escalation in tensions between Tigrayan forces and Ethiopia’s federal government, coming amid months of deteriorating relations between the two sides.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs the region and led Tigray during the 2020–2022 war, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Spokespeople for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the federal government also did not immediately respond.
The development comes only days after the TPLF and six other Ethiopian opposition and armed groups announced the formation of an alliance that said it sought to remove Abiy Ahmed’s government and establish a transitional administration.
The latest tensions threaten to further strain the November 2022 peace agreement that ended the devastating two-year conflict between federal forces and Tigrayan forces. The agreement brought an end to large-scale fighting, but relations between the federal government and Tigrayan authorities have remained contentious.
In May, the TPLF took control of Tigray’s regional government from the interim administration established under the 2022 peace agreement, according to Reuters. The federal government and the TPLF have since accused each other of violating the terms of the peace process.
Ethiopian Airlines previously suspended services to Tigray during the 2020–2022 war. Commercial flights to Mekelle resumed in December 2022 following the signing of the peace agreement.
For now, Ethiopian Airlines has provided no timetable for the restoration of flights to Mekelle, Shire and Axum.
The situation remains fluid, with further developments expected.
