REFILE: Ethiopian Airlines says it halts Eritrea flights after account frozen

Record ID: 1839093

  • Title: REFILE: Ethiopian Airlines says it halts Eritrea flights after account frozen
  • Date: 3rd September 2024
  • Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (SEPTEMBER 3, 2024) (REUTERS) PRESS BRIEFING ROOM WITH OFFICIALS AND PRESS CORPS SEATED ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES GROUP OFFICIALS SEATED CAMERA PERSON FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES GROUP CEO, MESFIN TASEW, SAYING: “This past Saturday, on August 31, when our Agent went to deposit the cash collected from sales, he was informed by the bank that our account has been fully blocked and that we cannot withdraw money or make local payments and only make deposit. Same has been communicated to us by a letter.”
  • Embargoed: 17th September 2024 15:59
  • Keywords: Business Companies Diplomacy East africa Economy Finance Politics addis ababa airlines conflict eritrea ethiopian suspension tension
  • Location: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
  • City: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: Africa,Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001125403092024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ethiopian Airlines said on Tuesday (September 3) it had suspended flights to neighbouring Eritrea because its bank account there was frozen. The carrier's CEO Mesfin Tasew told a news conference that the Eritrean Civil Aviation Authority had blocked money transfers from Ethiopian Airlines' bank account in the Eritrean capital city Asmara.
    Eritrea had previously said it would suspend all Ethiopian Airlines flights at the end of this month. Flights from Ethiopia to Eritrea had resumed in 2018 after two decades, following a peace deal and resumption of diplomatic relations between the two neighbours that earned Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed a Nobel peace prize a year later.
    In a statement late on Monday (September 2), Ethiopian Airlines had said it would try to rebook affected passengers on other airlines at no additional cost or offer refunds. Ethiopian is ranked the largest airline in Africa by revenue and profit by the International Air Transport Association.
    Five diplomats told Reuters the suspension of flights signalled that relations between Asmara and Addis had soured significantly, but the risk of conflict was unlikely for now. The two countries severed ties in 1998 when a two-year war started over their disputed border.
    Eritrea fought alongside Ethiopia in a war that erupted in November 2020 against regional forces from Ethiopia's Tigray region, but relations soured once again after Asmara was excluded from the peace talks that ended that conflict two years later, and because some of its troops remain in Tigray.
    (Production: Kumerra Gemechu, Mukelwa Hlatshwayo)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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