The suspension comes after Tigray forces took control of Mekelle airport, days after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front announced an alliance with six other armed groups. Posted on September 23, 2026September 23, 2026Ethiopian Airlines has suspended flights to three airports in northern Tigray amid an escalation of conflict by an armed group in the region. Mekelle, Axum and Shire had been temporarily suspended since Wednesday. List of 3 items recommended storiesend of list “We sincerely apologize to our valued customers for any inconvenience caused by this suspension. We will inform you once flight operations resume,” the airline said. Flightradar24, which tracks air traffic, also showed on Wednesday morning that the flight between Mekelle and the federal capital, Addis Ababa, had been cancelled. The suspension comes after Tigrayan forces took control of the Mekelle airport and were detained by federal police overnight, according to local sources cited by Reuters and AFP news agencies. An employee at Alula Aba Nega airport in the Tigray capital, Mekelle, told AFP on Wednesday that while they were heading to work, “our supervisor called the driver and told him that the airport had been taken over by Tigray forces.” Ethiopia. The suspension comes at a time of rising tensions in the region. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) announced on Sunday that it had allied with six other armed groups across Ethiopia to overthrow Abiy’s government. Human rights groups have accused the TPLF of carrying out forced recruitment drives this year as it prepares for a new conflict. The TPLF ruled Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 before being sidelined with the rise of Prime Minister Abiy, triggering a devastating civil war from 2020 to 2022. The conflict killed about 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates, before the Pretoria Peace Agreement ended hostilities. However, the region has not recovered, with around a million people still displaced and parts of the peace agreement unfulfilled. An uneasy calm remained until late 2025, when fighting resumed, raising fears of a return to all-out war. Compounding the crisis, Ethiopia also faces a myriad of other rebellions, including in its most populated regions of Oromia and Amhara.
