Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia, to gain access to the Red Sea in exchange for a stake in its flagship carrier Ethiopian Airlines. Detailed negotiations to reach a formal agreement will be concluded in a month, said Redwan Hussein, national security adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. He didn’t disclose the stake Ethiopia will offer for Africa’s biggest airline. The MoU will enable Ethiopia to access the Red Sea from Somaliland to use as a military base and for commercial purposes for 50 years, Hussein said at a briefing on Monday in the capital Addis Ababa. It will be able to lease a “20 kilometer (12 miles) long access for the Ethiopian Navy base and to be used as one of its entry ports,” Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi said at the same event. Ethiopia can also build infrastructure and a corridor, Hussein said. As part of the agreement Africa’s second most populated nation will recognize Somaliland as a sovereign state, Bihi said. In October, Abiy in a televised lecture identified access to the ocean as a strategic objective and warned that failure to secure it could lead to conflict before toning down his comments. <br/>
star
The chief of Korean Air, Korea's largest air carrier, on Tuesday vowed to complete the airline's proposed acquisition of domestic rival Asiana Airlines in 2024. In a New Year's message to employees, Korean Air Chairman and CEO Cho Won-tae said the company "will complete the acquisition of Asiana Airlines in 2024," while noting that the process "has taken much longer than expected." The CEO, also known as Walter Cho, stressed that the integration of the airlines, currently under review by overseas antitrust regulatory authorities, will serve as a tremendous growth engine for Korean Air. "The merger will optimize our network and allow us to operate at new destinations, so that we may offer customers more choices," Cho said. So far, 11 countries, including Britain, Australia and Singapore, have approved the 1.8t-won ($1.4b) merger deal announced in 2020, but the airlines have yet to receive approval from three key markets: the European Union, the United States and Japan. For the merger to be finalized, Korean Air must win approval from competition regulators in key markets. In his message, Cho also anticipated sustained geopolitical risks, global supply chain disruptions, economic slowdowns and prolonged inflation to persist through 2024. Further, he expected intensified industry competition in regaining market share and a slowdown of the lucrative cargo business.<br/>
Air India pilots unions have raised concern against the alleged threat that the airline has given the cockpit staff if they report sick for duty. Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) have written to Air India senior VP for flight operations Manish Uppal saying that it is in the interest of flight safety that pilots can report sick without the “fear of reprisal”. Air India has allegedly threatened pilots with “appropriate measures” to be taken in case they report sick for work. Copies of the letter have been distributed to various recipients, including Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran, DGCA Vikram Dev Dutt, and Air India Managing Director and CEO Campbell Wilson. The communication states, “We wish to convey our apprehension and disapproval regarding recent correspondences suggesting the potential imposition of punitive actions for reporting illness.” The unions highlighted their awareness of the necessity for a productive and efficient workplace, and said it is pivotal to “acknowledge the significance of pilot’s health and its cascading effect on flight safety”. The letter cautioned about situations where pilots might feel “intimidated” or “pressured” to undertake flights despite health issues, posing a potential risk to flight safety. While the IPG comprises pilots responsible for operating wide-body aircraft at Air India, ICPA represents pilots who fly narrow-body Airbus 320 family aircraft for the carrier. Expressing their concerns, the unions said that threatening employees in such a manner violates “ ethical principles” and also goes against the Aircraft Rules Act, 1937.<br/>