Flags, flowers greet first Ethiopia-Eritrea flight in 20 years

The first commercial flight from Ethiopia to Eritrea in 20 years landed safely in Asmara on Wednesday to be greeted by dancers waving flags and flowers, cementing a stunning rapprochement that has ended a generation of hostility in a matter of days.

>>Reuters
Published : 18 July 2018, 01:14 PM
Updated : 18 July 2018, 01:14 PM

As Ethiopian Airways flight ET 0312 made the momentous switch from Ethiopian to Eritrean airspace, chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam took to the on-board intercom to remind the 315 passengers they were part of history.

“This is the first time that this is happening in 20 years,” he said, to cheers and applause from passengers and crew on the brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Families separated from loved ones since the start of a brutal 1998-2000 border war sat next to dignitaries on the flight, one of two that took off from Ethiopia on Wednesday morning.

Passenger Senait Tesfaye told Reuters she had not seen her grandmother Abrehet for more than two decades. Abrehet, she said, was deported to Eritrea alongside tens of thousands of Ethiopian residents of Eritrean origin at the start of the conflict.

“We have been longing to see her for all these years,” the 37-year-old said as she cradled her three-month-old son Naby. “He will now get to spend time with her more than I ever did as a child. Words cannot express the joy we feel as a family.”

Other passengers carried flags and wore t-shirts with slogans celebrating the advent of peace.

The airline marked the departure of the planes, the other a Boeing 737, with a message on its Facebook page: “The bird of peace has just flown to #Asmara #Familyreunion #Ethiopia #Eritrea.”

The two 90-minute flights were the icing on the cake of a peace push by new Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed, whose three months in office have turned politics in his country - Africa’s most populous after Nigeria - and the wider East African region on its head.

With the 41-year-old former intelligence officer at the helm, the ruling EPRDF coalition has ended a state of emergency, released political prisoners, restored phone links and announced plans to open up the economy - including letting foreigners take stakes in state-run Ethiopian Airlines.

MILLIONS IN SAVINGS

The airline - which operates Africa’s biggest fleet - stands to save millions of dollars a year by using Eritrean airspace instead of taking circuitous routes to some Middle East destinations, Tewolde told Reuters.

“This is a big occasion for us,” he said.

The importance for ordinary Ethiopians is far greater.

Surafel Demissie, an Ethiopian priest whose parents died during his childhood, had never been to Eritrea - the country of his mother’s birth - nor met any family members.