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Ethiopian Airlines say BBC report about flight over Somalia airspace “distorted”
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    Saturday March 2, 2024

     

    Ethiopian Airlines on Friday dismissed a recent report from BBC Amharic as "inaccurate and distorted." 

    On Friday, BBC Amharic reported that it has not been removed from the site, "Ethiopian Airlines announced that it has stopped using the Somalian Airspace it has been using for flights to Asia." The report went on to say that the decision was due to unreliable traffic service from Somalia Air Traffic Control. 

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    The report cited Mesfin Tassew, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, as stopping the use of Somalia airspace after an alleged incident involving near collisions between Ethiopian Airlines and Qatar Airways last Saturday. 

    In a brief statement issued on Friday and shared on social media outlets, Ethiopian Airlines said BBC Amharic's report is incorrect and distorted. The airlines did not stop using the Somali Airspace. The airline has requested the BBC to correct the story it published. BBC is yet to respond to it. 

    The statement from the Ethiopian Airlines Group reads: 

    "…Ethiopian Airlines would like to clarify that the recent reports on BBC Amharic and other social media outlets about the Ethiopian Group CEO's comments on the Somali airspace situation are inaccurate and distorted. Ethiopian Airlines has not stopped flying over Somali airspace, and the Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO did not state that it is unsafe to fly over Somali airspace. Accordingly, we request BBC Amharic to correct the report it has issued on the subject. We have also verified that the letter being circulated on social media claiming to be from Ethiopian Airlines sent to IATA is fake, and Ethiopian Airlines never wrote such a letter to IATA." 

    There was, however, an incident earlier this year whereby Somali aviation authorities denied Hargeisa-bound Ethiopian Airlines' chartered flight, and the plane was turned back. 
     

     





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