MOGADISHU, Somalia – After the resumption of diplomatic relations between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airlines seems to have reaped big reaping, also given the current political tensions involving Kenya and Somalia, which have seen both sides shut down their airspace.
For 41 years Ethiopia and Somalia have been embroiled in a diplomatic feud that was resolved in 2018, after Abiy Ahmed took over as Prime Minister of the Horn of Africa nation. Since then, the relationship between the two parties has blossomed.
And now Ethiopian Airlines is chosen by many Somalis and Addis Ababa has become the biggest connecting route for Somalis from London, Minneapolis in the United States, Oslo and Nairobi, now that they meet Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia Airlines operates nine flights per day in Somalia 3 to Mogadishu and 2 to Garowe and 2 to Hargeisa and 2 to Cargo. Previously, many Somalis used Kenya Airways [KQ] whose flights to Somalia have been drastically reduced due to diplomatic feuds between Nairobi and Mogadishu.
“Morning afternoon and evening flights are ready and reliable, you don’t miss a thing,” Farhiya Ahmed, a Somali diaspora who repeatedly uses the Addis Ababa route, said in an interview with Dalsan TV. in Somalia.
In Addis Ababa, Somali citizens now arrive visa-free just upon arrival. Anyone with a Somali passport can easily travel to Ethiopia for health, business and family reunification reasons, as Somalis in Western countries sponsor families to reunite, Yusuf Mire from the Mogadishu airport.
“As Nairobi is now difficult to travel due to the diplomatic crisis between the 2 countries, Ethiopia has now become the best option for connection and everything,” Mire added.
Last year, several bilateral agreements were signed by Abiy Ahmed and President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo. The two leaders and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki also agreed to strengthen tripartite cooperation.
Ethiopia is ready to give our products like fish a chance to strengthen the trade ties between Somalia and Ethiopia. The move comes amid a diplomatic conflict between Kenya and Somalia, the former now suspending flights to Mogadishu.
“Tickets to Ethiopia are affordable compared to Turks, but as a traveler I prefer Ethiopia Airlines,” said Abdullahi Mohamed.
Somalia and Ethiopia are celebrating the restart of flights between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu as the new air route dramatically cuts the travel time it had to endure to travel between the two cities.
“When I was coming from Mogadishu to Addis Ababa, I was passing through Nairobi or Djibouti city or forced to transit through other places to come to Addis Ababa,” Abdi said.
“It took me four to five hours to get to Addis Ababa, but now it’s become easy but now I can travel in less than two hours thanks to Ethiopian Airlines,” Abdi added.
Ethiopia Airlines operates the routes to Mogadishu and Hargeisa once a week providing cargo capacity.
Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde Gebre Mariam, for his part, underlined the historic nature of the resumption of flights between Addis Ababa-Mogadishu and its potential economic benefits.
“Today is a great day to restart a direct flight between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu after 40 years, today is a historic day. Trade, investment and tourism relations between Ethiopia and Somalia have been compromised by the lack of adequate air connectivity, ”he said.
“The resumption of air services will promote tourism, trade and investment relations between Ethiopia and Somalia, as well as cross-border investment and people-to-people relationships,” he added.
But despite the harmonious relationship between the two countries, Ethiopia has nonetheless come under persistent pressure from some federal states in Somalia, where it is accused of helping the federal government impose an authoritarian agenda on the people without their consent.
Addis Ababa, critics say, used a non-Amisom contingent in parts of Gedo to rampage on states that are believed to be anti-Mogadishu. However, in recent weeks, these claims have diminished following the signing of a pre-election agreement between Farmajo and its competitor.
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