Ethiopian Airlines on Friday evening denied media reports claiming that it would reroute flights to avoid Somali airspace, which had previously been utilized for flights en route to Asia. The company arrived at this decision due to the lack of “reliable air traffic services” from Somali air traffic controllers, citing Ethiopian Airlines CEO Mesfin Tasew. However, the airlines stated on Twitter that the report about the CEO’s comments on the Somali airspace situation is inaccurate and distorted. “Ethiopian Airlines has not stopped flying over the Somali airspace and Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO did not state that it is unsafe to fly over Somali airspace. Data from the FlightRadar24 flight tracking website indicates that the airline’s flights on Friday evening did utilize Djibouti’s airspace, even though the airline has continued to use Somalia’s airspace for cargo flights.
