Flights to Mekelle resume after Ethiopian forces recapture of Tigray capital

Passengers arrived at Ethiopia's Mekelle airport on Sunday for the first time in almost three weeks.

Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to the capital of the northern Tigray region after the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) seized the city and airport on September 23. The airline also stopped routes to Axum and Hire.

The restoration of flights comes after federal forces recaptured Mekelle on October 3, with rebel fighters and their leaders abandoning the city.

Unconfirmed reports say there could be about five flights a day, more if demand increases.

A former Tigray leader now advising Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday promised "visible change" in the region.

“I would like to assure you on this occasion that we will bring visible change, a change beyond mere hope,” Getachew Reda, an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, told supporters who greeted him and intelligence chief Redwan Hussein at Mekelle airport. He did not elaborate.

Renewed fighting in Tigray has undermined the 2022 peace agreement that ended a devastating two-year civil war. Mounting tensions between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea have raised fears of a wider conflict.

The civil war caused about half a million civilian deaths from violence, famine and the collapse of health services, according to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front joined six other opposition groups last month in an alliance seeking to oust Abiy.