Ethiopian Airlines faces legal case over claims it blocks Tigrayans from travel

Passengers accuse airline of refusing to sell tickets to people from the ethnic minority to fly from northern region to Addis Ababa

A civil society organisation has launched a lawsuit against Ethiopian Airlines, accusing the state-owned carrier of discriminating against ethnic Tigrayans.

The suit brought by Human Rights First, a local NGO, claims the airline is preventing Tigrayans aged 15 to 60" from buying tickets for flights from the northern Tigray region to Addis Ababa, the federal capital. It also claims the company has increased ticket prices for the route as a form of collective sanction" against the people of Tigray.