Eritrea, Ethiopia opens airspace

The airspace between Ethiopia and Eritrea that has been closed by A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has opened as of Thursday.
Sources at the authority told Capital that the airspace has been opened as of Thursday two days before the Eritrean president travels to Ethiopia for an official visit.
In relation to his visit last Sunday to Asmara Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Prime Minister, has agreed with Eritrean head of state President Isayas Afeworqi to re-commence road and air transport in addition to using sea ports in Eretria.
The visit of the two leaders has occurred after two decades since the outbreak of the border war and ’cold war’ peace condition.
Early this week Ethiopia Airlines (ET) announced that it would begin daily flights  to Asmara as of July 17, which would be the first time since it stopped in May 1998. Its first flight would be with the most technologically advanced commercial aircraft, the Boeing 787, according to the statement Ethiopian sent to Capital.
The two countries agreed in 1993 to undertake commercial flights that will allow Ethiopian to fly without further negotiations.
According to reports, the PM’s flight route went via Djibouti to get to Eritrea.  Since the Eritrean air space is opened the flights to the north will be shorter and more fuel efficient. For its flights to the Middle East and other countries in the north, ET has been forced to use the airspace of Djibouti and Sudan, which is more costly in terms of time and fuel.
Other airlines that use this area has also been affected by the NOTAM in relation to the Civil Aviation Authority NOTAM which announced the opening of the airspace to Eritrea, other airlines will also use this space.