Abu Dhabi based carrier Etihad Airways (EY) has announced the indefinite postponement of its inaugural Abu Dhabi - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia flight, set to begin this Friday, 2 November 2012.
In a statement, Etihad claimed the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority had rejected the airline’s
application for the required operating permit, despite the
existence of a Memorandum of Understanding concluded by the governments
of Ethiopia and Abu
Dhabi in June 2007.
Source [Etihad Airways]
An Etihad A330 (Etihad) "Over a period of six months, the UAE Government has held several meetings to resolve this situation, with the final meeting in Addis Ababa ending in failure last week. Unfortunately, due to lack of any positive outcome Etihad Airways has had no alternative but to postpone the launch of flights between Addis Ababa and Abu Dhabi until further notice.The airline said: “The actions of the Ethiopian CAA ignore the Memorandum of Understanding between Abu Dhabi and Ethiopia. They are also very much against the best interests of consumers, who are being denied the opportunity to experience Etihad Airways’ award-winning service." It went on to add, “we will continue to push for terms of the MoU to be honoured. In the meantime, we deeply regret any inconvenience caused to our customers and business partners by this delay.”"
Ethiopian Airlines (ET) commenced scheduled passenger flights to Abu Dhabi in July 2008, suspending the service 12 months later.