Summary:
- Since Ethiopian Airlines recently resumed flights to Liberia, various claims have been made on social media regarding its previous departure from the country.
- An official of the Government claimed in a Facebook post that the airline left due to credibility issues with the CDC government,
- The Executive Mansion, Spoon TV, and FrontPage Africa also claimed in a respective press release and news reports that Ethiopian Airlines was returning to Liberia after 40 years away.
- We have fact-checked these claims and found them to be misleading
- Ethiopian Airlines ceased operations in Liberia in 2010, a time when the CDC government was not in power, and the absence of the airline to Liberia has not been more than 14 years.
Following Ethiopian Airlines resumption of flights to Liberia, there have been various claims about the airline’s previous departure from the country.
Fact Check By: Jerry Gaye & Siaway T. Miapue | LVL Fact Checkers
In one of the claims, Togar Melvin Cephas, a youth leader of the Unity Party and senior official of the National Transit Authority (NTA), claimed in a November 30 Facebook post that Ethiopian Airlines stopped flights to Liberia ”due to credibility issues with the CDC Government”.
Also, the Executive Mansion and other media outlets including Spoon TV and FrontPage Africa claimed in separate publications that the airline is “returning to Liberia after 40 years”.
Claim #1
In his Facebook post, Mr. Cephus claims: “Ethiopian Airlines left Liberia because the CDC gov’t then had credibility issues. They are back under Unity Party Gov’t because we have restored the confidence of businesses”.
Rating Justification
To fact-check this claim, we emailed the Corporate Communication Department of the Ethiopian airline, inquiring when the airline stopped flights to Liberia. The airline has not responded to our inquiry. When they do, we will update this report.
However, we conducted an online search to establish when the airlines left Liberia. We found various articles about the last time the airline flow to Liberia and why they left the country.
Trendsnafrica, a 24/7 news portal promoting Africa as a destination for investment, trade, and technology transfer, reported on December 2 that Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to Monrovia as part of its network adjustments, particularly during periods of diminished demand and the global disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Further research revealed a 2024 publication by Aeroroutes, a leading source for worldwide airline schedule/network changes documentation, which confirmed that Ethiopian Airlines last served Monrovia until September 2010.
Note that by 2010, the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) administration was not leading the government of Liberia. The CDC was elected in 2017 with former president George M. Weah inaugurated in January 2018.
Claim #2
The Executive Mansion, Spoon TV and FrontPage Africa all claim that Ethiopian Airline was returning to Liberia after 40 years.
Excerpt from the Executive Mansion press release published on the website reads: “In an important milestone, His Excellency Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr., President of the Republic of Liberia, today welcomed the resumption of Ethiopian Airlines’ flights to Liberia after a hiatus of more than 40 years.”
Rating Justification
To fact-check if Ethiopian Airlines is returning to Liberia after more than four decades (40 years), we searched and found the Ethiopian Airlines’ history by seatmaestro, a website that offers daily update on airline seat information for both regular and low-cost flights on 178 airlines worldwide.
The Ethiopian Airlines’ history records show that Ethiopian Airlines began operating flights to Liberia in 1961, connecting Addis Ababa with Monrovia and marking the first direct air link between Eastern and Western Africa.
360º Mozambique, a Mozambican Media Company also reported on September 17, that “the Ethiopian Airlines is resuming flights to Monrovia, Liberia, a route it last served in 2010”. The report added that the “return of this service underscores the airline’s strategic expansion into under-served markets”.
We also contacted Mr. Jefferson Daryou, Head of Communications of the Roberts International Airport, and he confirmed through a WhatsApp text that Ethiopian Airlines started flights to Liberia as far back as the 1960s. He added that there have been pauses of flights over the years but the last time the airline suspended flights to Liberia was 2010.
Conclusion
Based on these findings, we conclude that the claim made by Mr. Cephas that Ethiopian Airlines left Liberia “due to credibility issues with the CDC Government” is misleading. The airlines stopped operations in Liberia in 2010 when the CDC Government was not in Power. The CDC administration was inaugurated in 2018.
Also, the Executive Mansion, Spoon TV and FrontPage Africa did not get their facts right about the return of the airlines to Liberia in 40 years. Ethiopian Airlines began operating flights to Liberia in 1961. Following several cancellations of flights to Liberia, the last time the airline aborted flights to Liberia was in 2010 — 14 years ago.
