Eritrean Airlines (B8, Asmara) chief executive Nasreddin Ibrahim has confirmed the carrier will commence flights between Asmara and Addis Ababa International, Ethiopia, effective August 1.
In an interview with The Reporter, Ibrahim said the 3x weekly service and would be followed in September by a 2x weekly Assab-Addis Ababa flight.
The services, which are are on-board B737-300 equipment wet-leased from YanAir (YE, Kyiv Igor Sikorsky), will complement a daily Ethiopian Airlines-operated service, launched earlier this month as the most tangible sign of thawing relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
According to The Reporter, Ethiopian CEO Tewolde Gebremariam's talks with Eritrean Airlines have focussed primarily on cooperation between the airlines rather than the purchase of equity, which will only come later.
Nasreddin said that Eritrean Airlines wants to cooperate with Ethiopian Airlines in route development and training.
“We want to establish a strong cooperation with Ethiopian Airlines. We will discuss the possibilities that we can work together. We may even sign [a] codeshare agreement,” he added.
