Addis Ababa, Dec. 3(ENA)--The Ethiopian Airlines (EAL) expresses dismay that on Sunday December 1,2002 its flight destined to Tel Aviv was diverted to Uvda air base in Negev for security check.

"This situation caused undue stress and inconvenience to our passengers and crew and has also caused operational irregularities and unexpected additional costs." ETHIOPIAN said in a news release sent to ENA on Tuesday.

"All Ethiopian Airlines flights are operated in full respect of internationally agreed and accepted operation rules and safety and security standards set by ICAO, FAA and the like. As a result, the FAA had accorded category 1 status to Addis Ababa Airport since June 1998," the release said.

The Israeli government's advise to its citizens to defer their travel plans to Ethiopia, coupled with the associated negative press coverage such as on the jerusalem Post and CNN, are seriously jeopardizing the operational and commercial viability of Ethiopian's flights to Tel Aviv, it said.

"Under the circumstances, therefore, ETHIOPIAN regrets to inform its customers that the Airline is suspending its flights to Tel Aviv effective immediately," it noted.

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