Ethiopian Airlines Tigray flights to Mekelle, Axum and Shire are suspended after Tigray forces took control of the airport in Mekelle, the regional capital, from federal police on Wednesday, September 23.

The state-owned airline announced the halt on social media, saying service was suspended "due to the current situation in the Tigray region," without giving further details. It apologized to passengers for the inconvenience and said it would inform them when operations resume.

How the airport seizures unfolded

Two local sources told Reuters that Tigray forces took control of Mekelle's Alula Aba Nega Airport overnight, and residents told the BBC that local forces took over the airport from the national police early on Wednesday. Witnesses described armed fighters at the airport, though no gunfire nearby, according to travel industry reports.

Flight-tracking data showed a Mekelle to Addis Ababa flight cancelled Wednesday morning. With Ethiopian Airlines Tigray flights now suspended, travelers to the three cities face limited options until the carrier names a resumption date.

What governments are telling travelers

The United States Embassy in Addis Ababa issued a security alert on September 23 confirming that Tigray forces had taken control of the airports, and it advised US citizens not to travel to Tigray or Afar. The US State Department's Ethiopia advisory, updated August 27, 2026, puts the country at Level 3, Reconsider Travel, citing unrest, crime, kidnapping, terrorism and communications disruptions.

The Tigray Region itself sits at Level 4, Do Not Travel, because of armed conflict, unrest and crime, and US government employees need special authorization to travel there. The embassy's standing guidance warns that roads along the Eritrean border are closed and that conditions can change without warning.

The embassy's standing guidance also urges US citizens in Ethiopia to stay aware of their surroundings and avoid walking or driving at night, when violent crime is more common.

Why this is happening now

Tigray fought a two-year civil war with the federal government from 2020 to 2022 that killed hundreds of thousands of people. The two sides signed a peace deal in November 2022, but each side has since accused the other of breaking it, and relations have deteriorated for months.

On Sunday, the Tigray People's Liberation Front announced it had formed an alliance with six other armed groups across Ethiopia aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government. The Ethiopian military has carried out several drone strikes against Tigrayan forces in recent months, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, and Tigray regional authorities said their forces had been forced into a defensive war after reports of drone strikes in recent days. The tension had been building for months. In May, the TPLF seized control of the regional government from the interim administration set up under the 2022 peace deal, and last week the Ethiopian military said nearly 300 Tigrayan fighters had surrendered.

The US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ervin J. Massinga, publicly condemned the offensive and described it as a poor decision, urging de-escalation.

What it means for your trip

Addis Ababa's Bole International Airport, the gateway almost every foreign visitor passes through, is not among the airports that changed hands and continues normal operations. Travelers who normally change planes in Addis will see no difference there.

The impact falls on anyone holding tickets to Mekelle, Axum or Shire. With Ethiopian Airlines Tigray flights suspended, those passengers should check their reservations directly with the airline or their travel agent before heading to the airport, because no resumption date has been announced. Travelers should not assume services will return according to their original itinerary, and anyone with a connecting flight should confirm each leg before leaving for the airport. Travelers weighing an overland trip instead should know the US government advises against travel to Tigray for any reason, and that roads and borders in northern Ethiopia can be disrupted with little notice.

For now, the airline says it will announce when flights resume, and the embassy has told US citizens to avoid the affected regions. It has been a volatile stretch for air travel more broadly: Spirit Airlines' shutdown is set to make US holiday flights pricier, and Norse Atlantic cut New York from its winter schedule.

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