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| Passengers pose for a selfie aboard the Ethiopian Airlines plane -- the first flight from Addis Ababa to Eritrea in a generation (AFP Photo/Maheder HAILESELASSIE TADESE) |
Asmara (Eritrea) (AFP) - Ethiopia and Eritrea on Wednesday resumed commercial airline flights for the first time in two decades, with emotions spilling over into the aisles and onto the tarmac as families were reunited.
Two flights
left Addis Ababa within minutes of each other and an hour and a half later
touched down in the Eritrean capital Asmara, in the latest phase of a whirlwind
peace process between the former foes that began just six weeks ago.
An AFP
journalist on one of the flights reported passengers singing and dancing in the
aisles, overwhelming flight attendants, before falling into the arms of
long-lost family members upon their arrival.
"I'm
super excited. You have no idea," said Izana Abraham, an Eritrean who was
born in Addis Ababa -- a fact that saw him deported from his home country
during a bloody war between 1998 and 2000. "This is history in the
making."
Izana, 33,
was going to visit his father. The two had been separated ever since his
deportation until finally meeting in Dubai last year.
The airline
wrote on Twitter shortly after take-off that "the bird of peace has just
flown to Asmara."
"This
day marks a unique event in the history of Ethiopia and Eritrea," the
airline's chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam said at a ceremony inaugurating
the historic flight.
"The
fact that we are taking two flights at a time shows the eagerness of the
people," said Tewolde.
Champagne
was served to passengers in all classes, who toasted each other and posed for
selfies during the flight.
Smiling
flight attendants also handed out roses to passengers.
Ethiopian
Airlines, one of Africa's fastest-growing carriers, has said it would initially
operate a daily return flight between Addis Ababa and Asmara.
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Map of
Ethiopia and Eritrea (AFP Photo/Kun TIAN)
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"With
the demand we are witnessing, I think we're going to increase the frequency to
twice a day, thrice a day and even more," said Tewolde.
He added
the opening of Eritrean airspace to Ethiopian Airlines would also mean more
efficient routes to the Middle East.
When the
planes landed, passengers poured onto the tarmac where they danced together
with a cheering crowd who welcomed them, waving the flags of the two nations.
Family
members torn apart by the war sobbed as they were reunited.
"I am
very excited. I can't explain my feelings," said Fasika Moges, who lived
in Addis and met her sister Lula at the airport.
The pair
had been separated since the war but, unlike many, Lula was able to afford a
slow, indirect flight to Addis Ababa last year to visit.
Among the
passengers on the first flight was former prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn,
whose shock resignation in February was the first step in a series of seismic
shifts in the politics of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.
"I
knew one day it would happen," Hailemariam said of the peace with Eritrea.
'A man in
a hurry'
Hailemariam
was succeeded in April by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, a 42-year-old former army
officer and cabinet minister described by analysts as a "man in an extreme
hurry".
After
announcing the liberalisation of parts of the Ethiopian economy and releasing
jailed dissidents, Abiy last month declared his intention to make peace with
Eritrea after two decades of frozen relations.
Eritrea was once part of Ethiopia and comprised its entire coastline on the Red Sea until it voted for independence in 1993 after decades of bloody conflict.
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Ethiopian
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (L) and President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea
celebrated the reopening of Asmara's embassy in Addis Ababa on Monday (AFP
Photo/MICHAEL TEWELDE)
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Eritrea was once part of Ethiopia and comprised its entire coastline on the Red Sea until it voted for independence in 1993 after decades of bloody conflict.
A row over
the demarcation of the shared border triggered a brutal conflict that lasted
between 1998 and 2000, leaving 80,000 people dead before evolving into a bitter
cold war.
Abiy
stunned observers with his announcement that he would finally accept a 2002
United Nations-backed border demarcation. However he has yet to announce a
pull-out of troops.
He then
paid a historic visit to Eritrea, during which he and President Isaias Afwerki
declared an official end to the war. Afwerki reciprocated with a state visit to
Ethiopia just days later.
The
emotional reunion has been welcomed by Ethiopians who share strong cultural
ties with Eritreans and have been cut-off from friends and family on the other
side during the long years of enmity.
On Monday
Afwerki reopened Eritrea's embassy in Addis Ababa.
The
rapprochement is expected to provide an economic boost to both nations,
offering booming Ethiopia -- which currently channels its trade through
Djiboutian ports -- access to Eritrea's coast.
Amnesty
International has said the new peace should be a catalyst for change in
Eritrea, one of the world's most isolated nations.
Since the
end of the war, Isaias has used the threat of Ethiopian aggression to justify
repressive policies, including an indefinite national service programme the UN
has likened to slavery.
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