Mekelle — Ethiopian Airlines has suspended flights scheduled for today to airports in Tigray, including Mekelle, Axum, Shire, and Humera, according to information obtained by Addis Standard.
An Addis Standard reporter on the ground in Mekelle confirmed airport staff were informed to take a break for the day. However, Ethiopian Airlines' ticket office in Mekelle continued providing services, excluding flights scheduled for today.
"The system is working. We are giving services. We sell tickets scheduled from tomorrow onwards. We reschedule flights and provide other services," one ticket office staff member told Addis Standard. "But none of us know why flights were suspended today."
Passengers who had booked flights for today received text messages notifying them of the cancellation. One message sent to customers read:
"Your flight ET0102 from ADD on 29 Jan 2026, at 08:10 AM has been cancelled due to unplanned circumstances. Please contact Ethiopian or your agency for updates."
The suspension applies to all Ethiopian Airlines flights to Tigray airports for the day, not only Mekelle.
When asked whether airport staff would report to work and whether flights would resume tomorrow, airline staff said the situation remained unclear. "We only know late today. But the system shows there is a flight tomorrow," the staff member added.
Ethiopian Airlines previously suspended flights to Tigray during the Tigray war. In June 2021, after Tigrayan forces took control of Mekelle, flights to the regional capital were halted for nearly 18 months, resuming in December 2022, two months into the Pretoria peace agreement.
