Video: Eritrea denies blocking President Uhuru plane, blames Ethiopia for aborted US trip
Eritrea denies blocking Uhuru plane, blames Ethiopia for aborted US trip
By The-Star
Eritrea has refuted claims that it denied President Uhuru Kenyatta's plane entry into its airspace last Thursday.
The request to fly through the airspace was granted within 20 minutes, said Eritrean Embassy spokesman Beyene Russom.
“We are protesting formally because this is completely false information that Eritrea did not allow the Kenyan plane,” Russom said in a letter copied to foreign missions based in Nairobi.
"The aircraft was in fact turned away in Ethiopian airspace."
State House said the trip to the United States was aborted over the ongoing civil war in Yemen that threatened Uhuru's safety.
Aviation and security experts however said the reasons given by the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit were not solid.
The Star established that 15 minutes after the President’s jet was allegedly turned back from Yemeni airspace, a Kenya Airways aircraft flew through without hindrance.
This was after the Arab Coalition gave commercial flights clearance to fly through the airspace.
Uhuru was to attend the annual Milken Institute Global Conference on global challenges and their solutions in Los Angeles, California.
He delivered his address via video link, urging American businesses to ignore "inaccurate perceptions" about Africa and seek investment opportunities.
Video: Eritrea denies blocking President Uhuru plane, blames Ethiopia for aborted US trip
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How can ethiopia deny Kenya it's airspace when they don't have water to fly over, they have to fly over eritrea regardless to get to yemen with the route they took
ReplyDeleteNORMAL PROCEDURE WHEN THE ROUTE THEY ARE FOLLOWING IS NOT SAFE.THEY WILL BE ADVISED TO FLY TO A DIFFERENT FLIGHT PATH, WHICH IN THIS CASE IS OVER ERITREA. REQUEST TO ERITREAN AERO AUTHORITIES TOOK TO LONG AND UHURUS AIRCRAFT HAD TO RETURN TO MAIN BASE NAIROBI .20 MINUTES IS TOO LONG FOR A FLIGHT TO HOLD AND HAD TO DECIDE ,WHICH IN THIS CASE THEY DID.ETHIOPIA CAN NOT DENY ITS AIRSPACE AS THE EAST AFRICAN AERDROME AUTH IS IN ETHIOPIA AND THE A/C WOULD NOT TAKEOFF BEFORE THEY HAVE A CONFIRMED FLIGHT PLAN AND AN ALTERNATE ESPECIALLY WITH A VIP ON BOARD.GOOD FOR ERITREAS PROPAGANDA AND CAUSE ILL FEELING BETWEEN THE TWO BROTHERLY NATIONS. NICE TRY ,BUT BOTH PEOPLES KNOW THE FACTS.
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