• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Home  >  Ethiopian Airlines  >  Report: Ethiopian Airlines Used As A Tool Of War
Ethiopian Airlines

Report: Ethiopian Airlines Used As A Tool Of War

Matthew Klint Posted onOctober 6, 2021October 6, 2021 5 Comments

Ethiopian Airlines has been accused of transporting weapons from Ethiopia to Eritrea during the civil war in Tigray. The allegations, if proven true, could have devastating commercial ramifications for Africa’s largest and most profitable airline.

Ethiopian Airlines Allegedly Used To Transport Weapons To Eritrea During Tigray Civil War

A CNN Exclusive lays out the case, which includes interviews with former employees, images, cargo manifests, and air waybills. In short:

  • On November 4, 2020, the Ethiopian government accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of attacking a federal army base and ordered a military offensive to remove the TPLF from power.
  • As conflict broke out in Tigray, the Ethiopian government sent arms to neighboring Eritrea, who joined with Ethiopian forces to suppress the uprising.
  • Documents and photos reveal weapons and other armaments were sent from Addis Abba to Asmara and Massawa on secret flights that eluded radar detection.
  • Transporting weapons for military use on civil aircraft violates international aviation law.
  • If the weaponry was used to commit atrocities, as the TPLF has alleged, Ethiopian Airlines stands to lose preferred access to the U.S. market under the terms of a lucrative trade deal.

Ethiopian Airlines has denied the incident, stating it “strictly complies with all national, regional and international aviation related regulations” and that “to the best of its knowledge and its records, it has not transported any war armament in any of its routes by any of its aircraft.”

This latest statement marks a step back from an earlier statement unequivocally denying it transported weapons during the conflict.

Air waybills, which are document that accompanies goods shipped by an international air courier to provide detailed information about the shipment and allow it to be tracked, demonstrated that equipment shipped included guns, ammunition, and even specially-armored vehicles.

A former Ethiopian Airlines cargo worker told CNN:

“The cars were Toyota pickups which have a stand for snipers. I got a call from the managing director late at night informing me to handle the cargo. Soldiers came at 5 a.m. to start loading two big trucks loaded with weapons and the pickups.

“I had to stop a flight to Brussels, a 777 cargo plane, which was loaded with flowers, then we unloaded half of the perishable goods to make space for the armaments.”

The vehicles were full of gasoline, which is not allowed under international air transport rules. Nevertheless, the cargo workers was overruled when he pushed back on loading these vehicles:

“He aid we are going to war and we need the fuel to be loaded. Then I referred the issue to my manager and my manager took responsibility and allowed them to load it.”

These special arms flights were always assigned the same flight numbers, ET3312, ET3313 and ET3314. Flight tracking data shows them taking off, but then disappearing off the radar when approaching Eritrea.

Ethiopian employees noted the ADS-B signal could be manually shut off to prevent the flights from being tracked publicly.

CONCLUSION

To be clear, it has not been established yet that Ethiopian Airlines used commercial aircraft for these operations. But the CNN report is extensive and allegations are damning. While this story is just breaking, if Ethiopian Airlines is implicated for transporting arms in a bloody civil war some call a genocide, it may face sanctions and blockades that will severely impact its ability to recover from the pandemic.

image: M.Oertle

Previous Article A Day With My Son At LAX: Oh, How Time Flies…
Next Article United Airlines Will Open Polaris Lounge In Washington Dulles Later This Month

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • Ethiopian Airlines Pilots Asleep

    Ethiopian Airlines Suspends Pilots Accused Of Falling Asleep In-Flight

    August 22, 2022
  • Ethiopian Airlines Lounge Behavior

    Misbehave In Lounge? You’ll Lose Your Miles And Elite Status

    December 20, 2021
  • Nigerian Consulate Ticket Scalping

    Exclusive: Nigerian Consulate Responds To Ethiopian Airlines Ticket Scalping Incident

    August 19, 2020

5 Comments

  1. PM Reply
    October 6, 2021 at 10:45 am

    I can’t imagine the USA being such a huge market for them, and their operations to a well-known People’s Republic may also remain unaffected due to its govt turning a blind eye to this, but this is serious stuff and there must also be a risk of sanctions by the EU and a bunch of other countries.

    • Stuart Reply
      October 6, 2021 at 12:17 pm

      I would venture to say that the U.S. is one of their top markets feeding passengers on connections in Addis Ababa from IAD, ORD, and EWR. They also have a flight to Lome from EWR. And cargo flights as well. It would be a pretty significant blow to their operations. More so, the U.S. would not be the only country it could affect their access. Canada, U.K. EU, etc.

      • Matthew Klint Reply
        October 6, 2021 at 12:47 pm

        Agreed. USA is huge for ET.

    • PM Reply
      October 6, 2021 at 1:57 pm

      Good point on cargo- had completely forgotten about it!

  2. Jerry Reply
    October 6, 2021 at 1:33 pm

    If ET did this, sure it’s bad. Some other things that are bad: the AU, based in Addis basically doing nothing. The UN, with its Africa HQ not so far away basically doing nothing.

    CNN has posted every breaking story about this conflict which is sadly just another African conflict nobody seems to care about until it’s over and fingers need to be pointed.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Recent Posts

  • United Airlines Cuts Los Angeles – Tokyo Narita Route Ahead Of Haneda Launch February 6, 2023
  • Navigating The Touts Of Petra, Jordan February 6, 2023
  • What Annoys Flight Attendants Most… February 6, 2023
  • Mövenpick Resort Petra Review
    Review: Mövenpick Resort Petra, Jordan February 6, 2023

Categories

Popular Posts

  • Spirit Airlines Captain Runs Out Of Cockpit After Woman Yells “I Hope Y’All Crash And Die!” January 17, 2023
  • Hotel Worker entered room
    Woman Demands $3,000 In Compensation After Hotel Worker Walked Into Her Room At Midnight January 24, 2023
  • United Airlines 2023 Status Extension
    United Airlines Quietly Extends MileagePlus Premier Status…Again January 14, 2023
  • United Airlines Polaris Meal Service: The Sad State Of Affairs January 27, 2023

Archives

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

As seen on:

live_and_lets_fly

The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles is the most beautiful of all Polaris Lounges. Stay tuned for a detailed look and many more photos on the blog tomorrow. Well done @united.
@malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire i @malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire its A380 fleet. While not surprising, it is sad to see the growing list of carriers retiring this superjumbo jet. On Malaysia Airlines, I flew the #A380 once from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to London (LHR) and had the entire first class cabin to myself (full review on the blog). It was a beautiful flight that I will always remember.
Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited tha Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited that a new carrier, Avelo, has launched, especially from an airport just 12 minutes from my home!
I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxair I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxairport. Hopefully this summer it will return.

.
.
.
.
#Lufthansa #FirstClass #747 #747-8 #StarAlliance #Miles #Points
I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. This is not only a lovely, all-inclusive resort, but one of the best properties to use your @hyatt World of Hyatt points.
.
.
.
.
#Hyatt #BigSur #California #WorldofHyatt #CA-1 #Points #Hotels
In terms of a spacious first class product, the @E In terms of a spacious first class product, the @Emirates suite on a 777-300ER is hard to beat. My preference is Suite 2K.

.
.
.
.
#Emirates #777 #firstclass
Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from I Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from Instagram ahead of the birth of my first child. Goodness, how time flies. While I’ve enjoyed catching up on others over the years, now it is time for me to return to Instagram. In this first post, I highlight two joys in my life, my two children, whom I trust will grow up to be prolific travelers that circumnavigate the globe as ambassadors of love and respect.

.
.
.
.
.

#travel #airplanes #airlines #miles #points #familytravel #human #integrity #honor
United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improv United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improvement over UA's current business class seat. Check out my blog at liveandletsfly.com for 70+ photos of how @united is transforming its entire business class experience starting this December!
The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben! The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben!
Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen - Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen -- oh, and I love 40°F summer weather!
One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure of flying with in all my years of flying. Thank you @flysas SK940 on 11 Aug 2016
Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I a Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I assign a window seat months in advance, don't move me to a center seat "for my convenience" with no way to get my original seat back... 😞
Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be rac Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be racing the #Delta flight to JFK at the gate next to us, which also departs at 12:45p. With @onemileatatime
Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregenc Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregencycasablanca #cassablanca #hyatt
Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the i Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the inside of the @grandhyatt_shanghai ... It is 40°C outside! 😓
From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minut From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minutes flat. I ❤️ #bur #burbankairport
@malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in se @malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in service at #kul -- beautiful livery!
View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful bran View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful brand new @parkhyattguangzhou -- look for a full review coming soon on the blog #hyatt #parkhyatt #guangzhou #parkhyattguangzhou
Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, which closes tomorrow and the Queen of the Skies #747 which will be retired in 2018.
The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. If you're ever here, get up at 5am and have a walk around the city before it gets busy. You can hear the birds instead of honking horns.
Load More... Follow on Instagram
facebook twitter instagram rss

This site is for entertainment purposes only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

 

Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners.

 

Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.