ECAA claims UAE has ignored invitation for BASA talks
The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA) has said that its offer to the UAE to negotiate a Bilateral Air Transport Service Agreement (BASA) between the two states has been ignored, according to Ethiopian news site The Reporter.
The BASA would allow the commercial airlines in both countries to gain access to each other's airdromes at equal frequency. However, The Reporter said that despite calls from the ECAA for such an agreement, the UAE has not responded.
Col. Wossenyeleh Hunegnaw, director general of ECAA told The Reporter: "Ethiopia as a sovereign state has the right to request such agreements to regulate the air transport service between the two nations."
According to The Reporter, in response to ECAA's claims, Etihad has said that Ethiopian authorities have restricted it from accessing Addis Ababa though it requested its legal right for operating permits.
Other reports suggest that the real war is among the carriers of the UAE, and not about Ethiopia at all but is instead to do with unlimited passenger access that Emirates enjoys in Addis Ababa, which Etihad has been unable to obtain.Despite there being no formal BASA in place, Emirates has unlimited access to fly to Ethiopia, which is reciprocated with Ethiopian having full access to fly to Dubai. Flydubai also flies to Addis Ababa three times a week.
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