Ethiopian Airlines resumed flights to Mekelle on Sunday, 11 October 2026, as former Tigray leader Getachew Reda promised improvements following the city’s recapture by government-allied forces.
Flights had been suspended since Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) fighters seized the airport on 23 September. They withdrew on 3 October, when Government-allied units entered the city.
“I would like to assure you on this occasion that we will bring visible change, a change beyond mere hope,” Reda, now an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, told supporters at Mekelle airport.
Renewed fighting has undermined the 2022 peace agreement that ended the two-year Tigray war, while tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have heightened fears of a wider conflict.
On Friday, 9 October, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged all parties to cease hostilities and resume dialogue. Ethiopia accused Eritrea of sending troops across the border and occupying parts of its territory, claims the Associated Press could not independently verify. Eritrea’s response did not confirm or deny the alleged crossings, but described Ethiopia’s position as a “deplorable declaration of war”.