German Foreign Minister (FM) Annalena Baerbock and her delegation were forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, due to the inability to obtain permission to use Eritrean airspace.
On Wednesday, January 24, the Airbus 321 aircraft, en route from Berlin to East Africa, had to reroute and land in Jeddah to refuel, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
According to German News Agency DPA, the plane flew over the Red Sea for more than an hour waiting to obtain permission during the flight.
The agency indicated that permission to use Eritrean airspace was requested before take-off, but permission was not received due to a power outage in the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She was scheduled to visit Djibouti, Sudan, and Kenya.
German diplomacy has been stalled multiple times due to issues with flights.
In August 2023, Baerbock’s planned week-long trip to the Indo-Pacific region was cancelled due to repeated mechanical issues with her government plane.
