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| |||||||
| Founded | May 1991 (1991-05) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | April 2003 (2003-04) | ||||||
| Hubs | Asmara International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 1 | ||||||
| Destinations | None active | ||||||
| Parent company | Government of Eritrea (100%)[citation needed] | ||||||
| Headquarters | Asmara, Eritrea | ||||||
Eritrean Airlines is thenational airline ofEritrea.[1] Based atAsmara International Airport, it is wholly owned by thegovernment of Eritrea.[2] Scheduled service had been discontinued since 2008, and the airline operated only a fewhajj flights every year.[2] The airline was restarted under new management in 2011. In 2011, Nasair, a privately owned company, merged with government-owned Eritrean Airlines, to formNasair Eritrea.[3] Eritrean Airlines has been banned from flying into theEuropean Union (EU) since December 2012. As of July 2023[update], Eritrean Airlines had no scheduled service.
The airline was nominally established in May 1991 (1991-05),[4] serving as the ground handling agent at Asmara International Airport and atAssab andMassawa. It also acted as sales agent for other major airlines flying to Eritrea. In May 2002, it was decided to expand into airline services. In April 2003 (2003-04), an ex-EgyptAir 14-year-oldBoeing 767-300ER wasleased fromBoeing and used to start operations between Asmara andAmsterdam.[5][6] It was the first aircraft the airline took possession of,[6] and was namedQueen Bee.[7] The lease of the first Boeing 767 seems to have been replaced by anAirbus A320 in 2006 and then replaced again with aBoeing 757 in early 2007. It was again replaced with aDC-9 in late 2007, ending up with anMD-83.[citation needed]
In April 2003, Eritrean Airlines started regular services betweenAsmara andFrankfurt,Milan,Nairobi andRome.[4][8] In 2004, the airline addedAmsterdam as another destination and in 2005, services began toDjibouti andDubai. Meanwhile, the Nairobi route was dropped. By 2006, the flights to Amsterdam had been dropped while flights to Milan remained seasonal.[9] On 21 September 2006, Eritrean Airlines entered an accord with theGovernment of Pakistan to start direct flights betweenEritrea andPakistan. Eritrean Airlines received permission from theCivil Aviation Authority of Pakistan to start two flights a week each forKarachi andLahore.[10] Eventually service was operated viaDubai four times per week on each route, with full fifth freedom passenger and cargo traffic rights on the Dubai - Pakistan sectors.[citation needed]
The airline announced in 2008 that it was commencing seasonal services toBamako, forHajj travellers.[11] Flights toDjibouti were discontinued at the end of 2008 due to renewed tensions along the two countries' border, and flights to Frankfurt were cancelled in the summer of 2009.[12]
In June 2011, a senior Eritrean Foreign Ministry official said that the United States government had applied pressure prohibiting companies from leasing aircraft toEritrea. He stated that Washington was resorting to such illegal acts as part of its hostile attempts of stiffening anti-Eritrea sanctions, at a time when the Eritrean government was engaged in buying and leasing of passenger planes under new Pakistani management.[13]
Eritrean Airlines resumed operations on 16 July 2011. It also introduced a new livery on the first A320 received, which was used for the inaugural service to Dubai and Lahore. A second A320 was added in October, and flights toKarachi were launched. The carrier also planned to restore domestic services once the currently stored Dornier fleet was made airworthy. Long-term fleet plans included introduction of wide body aircraft like the Airbus A330, as well as new Boeing 737s to replace the A320.[14]
Since December 2012, Eritrean Airlines has been included in the European Commission list of airlines barred from flying into the EU.[15]
In July 2018, Ethiopian Airlines was in talks for a 20% stake in Eritrean Airlines.[16] As of January 2025, it is unclear if the deal was ever finalized.
As of January 2020[update], Eritrean had scheduled service to four destinations: Cairo, Addis Ababa, Khartoum, and Jeddah.[17] As of April 2025[update], no flights are scheduled on those routes.[18][19][20]
| Country | City | Airport | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Cairo | Cairo International Airport | No scheduled service | [17] |
| Ethiopia | Addis Ababa | Addis Ababa Bole International Airport | Terminated | [21] |
| Eritrea | Asmara | Asmara International Airport | Hub | [17] |
| Germany | Frankfurt | Frankfurt Airport | Terminated | [22] |
| Italy | Milan | Milan Malpensa Airport | No scheduled service | [17] |
| Rome | Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport | Terminated | [22] | |
| Nigeria | Kano | Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport | No scheduled service | [17] |
| Pakistan | Karachi | Jinnah International Airport | Terminated | [23] |
| Lahore | Allama Iqbal International Airport | Terminated | [23] | |
| Saudi Arabia | Jeddah | King Abdulaziz International Airport | Terminated | [21] |
| South Africa | Cape Town | Cape Town International Airport | Terminated | [24] |
| Johannesburg | O. R. Tambo International Airport | Terminated | [24] | |
| Sudan | Khartoum | Khartoum International Airport | Terminated | [21] |
| Port Sudan | Port Sudan New International Airport | Terminated | [25] | |
| United Arab Emirates | Dubai | Dubai International Airport | No scheduled service | [17] |
The Eritrean Airlines fleet in July 2020 consisted of aBoeing 737-300.[26][27] Eritrean is also said to have sixDornier aircraft, which are stored in Eritrea.[14]
The airline previously operated the following equipment:[28]
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Media related toEritrean Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
