In a statement, SCAA says poor customer experience and unresolved sovereignty issues are some of the reasons behind this move. Somalia and Ethiopia have been at loggerheads since Somaliland agreed in January to allow landlocked Addis Ababa to set up a naval base on its shores. They did this in exchange for a stake in the national carrier.

As Ethiopian airline has put itself as the go to carrier around the entire African continent, this will have a huge impact on their operation, according to an Aviation Analyst, Phuthego Mojapele.

“Somalia’s Mogadishu is one of the most difficult places for the airlines to get into, it has not been very much stable and therefore most airlines are really avoiding it as much as possible but Ethiopian airline has been very much instrumental into feeding into that airspace for the longest time, so this dispute will impact on the operation,” said Mojapele.

Majopele says that the civilian airlines have conditions attached to being granted foreign operators permit (FOP) to operate within a certain country. He further explains that there are conditions attached to that, and one relates to the government's policies. If your permit does not speak to the policies of the government, you are operating at the pleasure of the country that you that have allowed you to come in and they can revoke it at any given time if they feel confidently that you are not playing the game fairly as it was stipulated on your foreign operators permit, he says.

“In this case, the Somali Government have looked at their FOP that have been issued to Ethiopian airline and taking issue out of what they have not been complying with as the FOP might be because FOP has not been followed.

Going forward, the Kenya Airline is a force that is still in the East Africa, and they’ve positioned themselves very well in such a way that they can also claim the space within the East African and together with Rwandan Air.  

“Within the East African countries, Kenya Airways and Rwandan air, can step up and offer the same service that Ethiopian airline will be possibly vacating,”said Mojapele.

--Channel Africa--