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Hargeysa, Somaliland, March 27, 2009 —
Ethiopian Airlines will bring back scheduled flights to Somaliland soon,
Somaliland Aviation Minister Mr. Ali Waran Adde told local media on
Thursday.
The route to the capital of Somaliland was scheduled to re-open in
January 2009, after it was suspended in November 2008 following the five
suicide bomb attacks on buildings occupied by the government and
international agencies.
However, Ethiopia’s national carrier will resume it’s flights from the
Somaliland port city of Berbera rather than the capital, Hargeysa. This
is due to the airport under going security upgrade and expansion to it’s
runways to accommodate 747, 767 jets and the new A380.
Ethiopian airlines will for the first time be flying its larger Boeing
767 jets to Somaliland, rather than the smaller domestic airlines it did
previously.
Since Ali became Somaliland Aviation Minister, he has made major changes
to Somaliland airports and carriers.
Apart from Ethiopian Airlines, Somaliland has other Somali carriers such
as Daallo Airlines, African Airways, Jubba Airlines, Djibouti Airlines
and the newly created Suhuura Airlines that will have its own 747
carriers.
Daallo Airlines, African Airways and Suhuura Airlines are private
carriers owned and operated by Somaliland wealthy investors. However in
early 2008 Daallo Airlines brought on board a new share holders, the
Dubai World subsidiary Istithmar World Aviation.
Source: Somalilandpress
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