Somalia Threatens to Block Flights of Africa’s Largest Carrier

Somalia has issued a threat to block flights from Africa’s largest carrier, creating potential disruptions in regional air travel and raising tensions between the country and the airline.

The Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) has warned to prohibit Ethiopian Airlines from entering its airspace, arguing that the major African carrier violated Mogadishu’s autonomy during a clash with Addis Ababa.

On Wednesday, Somali state media released a letter in which the authority alleged that the carrier had not adequately attended to previous concerns regarding “sovereignty issues.” The airline purportedly handled this by only including airport codes and removing all references to Somali destinations.

The SCAA stated that if the issues remain unresolved by August 23, “the original concerns will be worsened,” and they warned of a possible suspension of all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Somalia.

Somalia’s recent move is just another addition to a series of hostile actions and warnings aimed at Ethiopia. Tensions between the two East African nations have been exacerbated after Mogadishu declared Addis Ababa’s port access agreement with Somaliland as unlawful and an encroachment on its territory. Additionally, this development coincides with Turkey’s mediation efforts in facilitating discussions among Somali and Ethiopian officials towards reaching peaceful resolutions for their conflict – progress has reportedly been made within these talks recently.

Following Somaliland’s decision to lease 20km of coastline to Ethiopia for a period of 50 years in January, Mogadishu took the decision to expel Addis Ababa’s ambassador. As part of their response, Somalia has also ordered that all consulates belonging to Addis Ababa within both Puntland and Somaliland be closed down. It is important here to note that Somaliland had unilaterally declared independence from Somalia back in 1991.

In June, Mogadishu issued a warning of potential expulsion for the Ethiopian soldiers who were stationed in Somalia to combat al-Shabaab if Addis Ababa neglected to cancel their agreement with the former British protectorate that they consider as part of their own territory.

Ethiopian Airlines, which is owned by the state of Ethiopia, provides flight services to various destinations including Hargeisa in Somaliland, Garowe in Puntland and Mogadishu located within Somalia. Despite this operational feature on its website, Ethiopian Airline lists Hargeisa without any country designation as well as shows no search result for Somaliland. Conversely, it identifies Mogadishu clearly as a location situated within Somalia.

Mogadishu’s aviation regulator wrote a letter on Wednesday stating that Ethiopian Airlines officials had engaged in discussions regarding their violation of Somali sovereignty by serving certain destinations. Additionally, the SCAA disclosed that it has been receiving an escalating number of objections from Somalis about their travel experiences with Ethiopian Airlines which are deemed unacceptable.

It was added that failure to accurately identify the destinations in Somalia again would lead to immediate suspension without additional notice.

The SCAA, in another correspondence sent to FlyDubai – a government-owned airline of the Emirati – expressed comparable apprehensions by directing them to rectify “significant infractions” while providing truthful representation of Somalia’s destinations.