Ethiopian Cargo moves from Brussels to Maastricht

Ethiopian Airlines has moved its cargo operations from Brussels Airport (BRU) to Masstricht-Aachen (MST), effective Nov. 1, citing delays on behalf of the Belgian government  to respond to Ethiopian’s request for an extension of Fifth Freedom traffic rights. The carrier had wanted the rights to  fly on to Dubai World Central, Hong-Kong Chek Lap Kok and Shanghai Pudong, according to a report from ch-aviation.

Logistics firm TNT and Liège Airport were opposed to the rights renewal, which is done on a monthly basis, on the grounds that the destinations weren’t covered by Belgium’s bilateral air services agreement with Ethiopia. Because Ethiopian Cargo’s flights are operated in concert with rival DHL Express, TNT feared the added competition may impact the coming merger with FedEx. TNT serves the same destinations from Liège that Ethiopian does.

Instead, Ethiopian bolted for the Dutch city of Maastricht, which it will serve with six weekly 777F flights, carrying mostly loads of flowers for the European market. Two of the flights will stop over in Dubai. One flight will continue to Addis Ababa and two will operate between Maastricht to Shanghai.