Passengers in Mekelle, the seat of northern Ethiopia’s Tigray state, have told the BBC that they are unable to fly to Addis Ababa, the federal capital.
The passengers claim that without explanation, authorities at the city’s airport have prevented anyone between the ages of 16 and 64 from boarding planes, unless they are traveling for medical reasons.
A federal police representative said he was ignorant of the charges, while an Ethiopian Airlines senior official told the BBC that the airline does not discriminate against passengers.
Ethiopian Carriers, one of Africa’s major airlines, resumed commercial flights to conflict-torn Mekelle late last month, following a two-year civil war agreement signed between the federal government and Tigrayan fighters.
Before the agreement in November in South Africa, much of Tigray had been cut off from the outside world for more than a year and a half.
Electricity, phone lines, and airplanes are gradually being restored to the region.