Eritrean Airlines is the next target on the horizon for the pan-African airline investment programme from the management of the continents leading air carrier, Ethiopian Airlines.
The Addis Ababa based airline is currently in negotiations for the purchase of part of Eritrean Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines confirmed on Thursday, October 18th. He told local media that an investigation would be done to decide upon the size and scope of the acquisition his company would make in Eritrean Airlines.
Tewolde made the revelation during a visit to Asmara, the Eritrean capital on Wednesday following the first commercial flight from Ethiopia to Eritrea in 20 years. There has been a thaw in the decades of hostility and frosty relations between the two nations in recent times thanks in no small part to Ethiopia's new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. "It is beyond opening routes. This one is different because politically, economically and socially, the flight we flew yesterday is going to make radical changes between the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is a game changer,” Tewolde told the media on Thursday.
If all goes well, following demand Ethiopian will operate a twice-daily service between Addis and Asmara, with further expansion plans to operate services to Assab and Massawa.
