ADDIS ABABA (Bandhiga Media) – Ethiopian Airlines will today resume its regular flights to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu for the first in four decades.
The Airlines suspended its operations in Somalia following the outbreak of hostilities between the two countries in the late 1970s.
In a statement, the authorities of Ethiopian national carrier said the flight traffic will increase significantly, with the expectation of several flights daily between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu, as the airline becomes the second major international carrier after Turkish Airlines to service to Somalia.
“Our flights will quickly grow to multiple daily flights given the huge volume of traffic between the two sisterly countries and the significant traffic between Somalia and the rest of the world,” the airline’s CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam said.
The move comes two weeks after a plane from the private airline Ethiopia National Airways landed at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde airport.
This was the first commercial flight between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu in 41 years, in yet another sign of warming ties between neighboring Horn of Africa nations Ethiopia and Somalia.
In June Abiy paid a visit to Mogadishu, where he and Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed agreed to strengthen relations.
Somalia and Ethiopia are horn of Africa neighbors that share a long boarder and history.
