Ethiopian Airlines has not yet issued an official statement or explanation regarding the suspension of its flights.
The African Union (AU) brokered the truce between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – known as the Pretoria Agreement – which set up an interim administration to run Tigray.
Tigray’s transport chief Tadele Mengistu confirmed to the BBC that flights had been cancelled but said he did not have detailed information about the reasons behind the decision.
Buses are still operating between Addis Ababa and Tigray, though they may be subject to disruptions following the suspension of flights.
Relations between the TPLF and the government have been deteriorating for a while.
Following the Pretoria deal, the TPLF, which was designated a terrorist group during the war, wanted its legal status as a political party to be reinstated.
But the process has been dogged by disagreements and the electoral board recently revoked the TPLF’s licence – meaning it cannot contest the national elections in June.
The TPLF itself has split into factions, complicating an already tense situation. The party had dominated Ethiopia’s political landscape for two decades until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 and set up a new party, which TPLF leaders refused to join.
An AU envoy estimated that 600,000 people were killed during the Tigray war with all sides accused of gross abuses, such as the mass killing of civilians and widespread sexual violence.
