Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) and flydubai (FZ, Dubai International) have complied with a Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) ultimatum demanding that they start referring to Hargeisa, the capital of secessionist Somaliland, as located in Somalia.
The regulator had threatened to revoke the two airlines' access to its airspace by August 24 unless they change how they show Hargeisa in their respective internet booking engines. Ethiopian Airlines had shown Hargeisa without the name of the country, while flydubai described it as located in Somaliland.
Ethiopian Airlines tried to negotiate a longer deadline for the change, but the SCAA, in a letter seen by ch-aviation, denied the request. It said that "given the technological capabilities available, we believe the necessary corrections should not take more than two days".
The Ethiopian carrier serves Mogadishu in Somalia proper, as well as Garowe and Bosaso in autonomous but non-secessionist Puntland. In turn, flydubai does not operate any other routes to Somalia but transits its airspace en route to some of its African destinations.
Other foreign airlines serving Hargeisa on a scheduled basis, such as Daallo Airlines, Jubba Airways (Kenya), African Express Airways, and Air Djibouti, either display Hargeisa as a Somali city or do not show country names beside their destinations.
Somaliland, once a Italian colony that voluntarily merged with former British Somalia in 1960, effectively seceded in the early 1990s. While it is entirely self-governing, including control over its claimed airspace, in terms of international law it remains a part of Somalia and subject to its authority, including airspace.
