Following the peace accord and the travel of a high-level government delegation to Tigray, Ethiopian Airlines announced preparedness to resume its regular daily flight to Mekele, the capital of the Tigray region.
Ethiopian airlines announced officially on its social media platforms that regular flights to Mekelle will be resumed by tomorrow, Dec 28. This was disclosed following the meeting of the federal government delegation and TPLF officials yesterday in Tigray for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict.
Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, said in a statement today, “Air transportation from Addis Ababa to Mekelle, which was interrupted, will start tomorrow. It will be resumed with one flight to Mekelle per day, but it is planned to raise the number of flights based on the demand of travelers.”
The airline also informed its customers that they can get their tickets via the airline's website and app.
A delegation of the federal government senior officials including the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines led by the speaker of the House of People’s Representatives that headed to Mekelle was welcomed by senior TPLF officials and religious leaders of the region.
The airline said previously that Mekelle airport is in a good situation to resume operations, whereas Axum airport requires rehabilitation owing to the damage it incurred during the conflict.
“Following the peace agreement between the federal government and the TPLF, aviation experts who were sent to the place confirmed that the Mekelle Airport is in good condition to resume flight,” the CEO said.
Before the conflict erupted in Nov 2020, the number of flights to the Tigray region was Ethiopian Airlines’ highest number of domestic destinations, which was 10 to 14 flights to Mekelle per day. There were also two flights a day to the historical city of Axum and one flight to Shire.
Ethiopian Airlines dispatched the last flight to Mekele in Dec 2020, when Tigray was being governed by an interim administration and terminated its regular daily flights to the region afterward.
