Aircraft to and from Ethiopia at grave danger, Kenya warns as strike bites

It is our considered opinion that the stand-off threatens aviation safety in the region and that aircraft operating in and out of Addis Ababa airspace are in grave danger as the situation continues to deteriorate

Kenyan aviation authorities have warned aircrafts operating in and out of Ethiopia are in grave danger following air controllers’ strike in the Horn of Africa country which Nairobi said has resulted in near misses owing to coordination break-down.

The Kenya Air Traffic Controllers Association (KATCA) said in a statement Friday it was ‘deeply concerned with a number of serious safety issues over the last few days’ following a strike by Ethiopian Air traffic controllers.

“There have been several incidences of loss of standard separation between aircraft at the point of transfer between Addis Ababa and Nairobi due to wrong or no estimates from Addis Ababa,” KATCA said.

The Association cited several incidences arising out of lack of coordination between Nairobi and Addis Ababa noting as a result of the strike, retired controllers were manning the Addis Ababa airspace and the said officers could either have no understanding or the airspace or are overwhelmed.

“The few estimates passed to Nairobi by Addis Ababa are in most cases wrong, the aircraft call signals are wrong, the aircraft types on the estimates are wrong and sometimes even the destinations as passed are wrong.”

As a result, KATCA said, aircrafts entering Kenyan airspace from Addis Ababa come in at wrong flight levels.

Aviation authorities in Ethiopia said this past week the strike which started Monday would not affect operations noting it had hired the services of foreign air controllers and recalled retired staff.

“The strike doesn’t bring any difficulties to the institution and all activities are performing well without any problems with veteran Ethiopian professionals and trainers taking the responsibility and performing perfectly,” General Director of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, Wosenyeleh Hunegnaw told the media.

“It is our considered opinion that the stand-off threatens aviation safety in the region and that aircraft operating in and out of Addis Ababa airspace are in grave danger as the situation continues to deteriorate,” KATCA noted.

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