Eritrean Airlines

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Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Short description Template:Infobox airline Eritrean Airlines is the national airline of Eritrea.<ref name="Kenya: KQ and Eritrea Airlines Set for Turf War Over the Nairobi-Asmara Route" /> Based at Asmara International Airport, it is wholly owned by the government of Eritrea.<ref name="Profile on Eritrean Airlines"/> Eritrean Airlines has been banned from flying into the European Union (EU) since December 2012. Template:As of, Eritrean Airlines had no scheduled service.

History

The airline was nominally established in Template:Start date,<ref name="Eritrean Airlines Takes Off Next Month" /> serving as the ground handling agent at Asmara International Airport and at Assab and Massawa. It also acted as sales agent for other major airlines flying to Eritrea. In May 2002, it was decided to expand into airline services. In Template:Start date, an ex-EgyptAir 14-year-old Boeing 767-300ER was leased from Boeing and used to start operations between Asmara and Amsterdam.<ref name="African airlines add 767s for European flights" /><ref name="Eritrean Airlines Begins Operations with a New Boeing 767" /> It was the first aircraft the airline took possession of,<ref name="Eritrean Airlines Begins Operations with a New Boeing 767">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was named Queen Bee.<ref name="eritrean.be">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The lease of the first Boeing 767 seems to have been replaced by an Airbus A320 in 2006 and then replaced again with a Boeing 757 in early 2007. It was again replaced with a DC-9 in late 2007, ending up with an MD-83.Template:Citation needed

File:Eritrean Airlines A320-200 TS-INA DXB 2012-2-24.png
A Tunisia-registered Airbus A320-200 in Eritrean Airlines' new livery on short final to Dubai International Airport in 2012

In April 2003, Eritrean Airlines started regular services between Asmara and Frankfurt, Milan, Nairobi and Rome.<ref name="Eritrean Airlines Takes Off Next Month" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2004, the airline added Amsterdam as another destination and in 2005, services began to Djibouti and Dubai. Meanwhile, the Nairobi route was dropped. By 2006, the flights to Amsterdam had been dropped while flights to Milan remained seasonal.<ref name="flyeritrea.com">http://www.flyeritrea.com Template:Webarchive</ref> On 21 September 2006, Eritrean Airlines entered an accord with the Government of Pakistan to start direct flights between Eritrea and Pakistan. Eritrean Airlines received permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan to start two flights a week each for Karachi and Lahore.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Eventually service was operated via Dubai four times per week on each route, with full fifth freedom passenger and cargo traffic rights on the Dubai - Pakistan sectors.Template:Citation needed

The airline announced in 2008 that it was commencing seasonal services to Bamako, for Hajj travellers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Flights to Djibouti were discontinued at the end of 2008 due to renewed tensions along the two countries' border, and flights to Frankfurt were cancelled in the summer of 2009.<ref>Items tagged with Frankfurt Template:Pipe capitaleritrea news Template:Webarchive</ref> In 2011, Nasair, a privately owned company, merged with government-owned Eritrean Airlines, to form Nasair Eritrea.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In June 2011, a senior Eritrean Foreign Ministry official said that the United States government had applied pressure prohibiting companies from leasing aircraft to Eritrea. He stated that Washington was resorting to such illegal acts as part of its hostile attempts of stiffening anti-Eritrea sanctions, at a time when the Eritrean government was engaged in buying and leasing of passenger planes under new Pakistani management.<ref>Senior Official Exposes Washington's Pressure To Undermine The Work Plans Of Eritrean Airlines Template:Webarchive</ref>

Eritrean Airlines resumed operations on 16 July 2011. It also introduced a new livery on the first A320 received, which was used for the inaugural service to Dubai and Lahore. A second A320 was added in October, and flights to Karachi were launched. The carrier also planned to restore domestic services once the currently stored Dornier fleet was made airworthy. Long-term fleet plans included introduction of wide body aircraft like the Airbus A330, as well as new Boeing 737s to replace the A320.<ref name=News/>

EU ban

Since December 2012, Eritrean Airlines has been included in the European Commission list of airlines barred from flying into the EU.<ref>Template:Blist</ref>

Proposed Ethiopian Airlines deal

In July 2018, Ethiopian Airlines was in talks for a 20% stake in Eritrean Airlines.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of January 2025, it is unclear if the deal was ever finalized.

Destinations

Template:As of, Eritrean had scheduled service to four destinations: Cairo, Addis Ababa, Khartoum, and Jeddah.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:As of, no flights are scheduled on those routes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Country City Airport Notes Refs
Egypt Cairo Cairo International Airport No scheduled service <ref name=":0" />
Ethiopia Addis Ababa Addis Ababa Bole International Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="Eritrean Airlines adjust B737 ACMI capacity in 4Q19" />
Eritrea Asmara Asmara International Airport Template:Airline hub <ref name=":0" />
Germany Frankfurt Frankfurt Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="Eritrean Airlines Cancels Frankfurt Service from Oct 2012" />
Italy Milan Milan Malpensa Airport No scheduled service <ref name=":0" />
Rome Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="Eritrean Airlines Cancels Frankfurt Service from Oct 2012" />
Nigeria Kano Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport No scheduled service <ref name=":0" />
Pakistan Karachi Jinnah International Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="PKNews">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Lahore Allama Iqbal International Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="PKNews"/>
Saudi Arabia Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="Eritrean Airlines adjust B737 ACMI capacity in 4Q19" />
South Africa Cape Town Cape Town International Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="Eritrean Airlines Starts South Africa Service" />
Johannesburg O. R. Tambo International Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="Eritrean Airlines Starts South Africa Service" />
Sudan Khartoum Khartoum International Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="Eritrean Airlines adjust B737 ACMI capacity in 4Q19" />
Port Sudan Port Sudan New International Airport Template:Terminated <ref name="Sudan: Eritrean Airlines Begins New Flight From and to Asmara-Port Sudan" />
United Arab Emirates Dubai Dubai International Airport No scheduled service <ref name=":0" />

Fleet

Current fleet

The Eritrean Airlines fleet in July 2020 consisted of a Boeing 737-300.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="piccola">Template:Cite news</ref> Eritrean is also said to have six Dornier aircraft, which are stored in Eritrea.<ref name="News">Template:Cite news</ref>

Former fleet

Template:Multiple image The airline previously operated the following equipment:<ref name="ATDB">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

References

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Template:Portal bar Template:Airlines of Eritrea Template:African Airlines Association

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