Italy surrenders Ethiopia plane stolen in the 1930s

Almost nine decades after it was stolen by Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, the Italian government has officially returned Ethiopia’s first plane.

The official handover of the aircraft, named Tsehay in honour of the princess daughter of Emperor Haile Selassie, was celebrated on Tuesday by the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.

“Today is a day of great pride for Ethiopians as we celebrate the official handover of ‘Tsehay’ by the Italian Government,” Abiy wrote on his social media account on X, alongside photographs of the red two-seater plane.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, (L), receives documentation for the Tshegay airplane

Built in 1935 during the reign of Selassie, the aircraft was a collaborative effort between the German pilot Herr Ludwig Weber and Ethiopian engineers. In December 1935, Weber embarked on the plane’s maiden flight, covering a distance of about 30 miles (50km) from Addis Ababa. The flight lasted for about seven minutes.

By the time it was abandoned in Addis Ababa in May 1936, as Italian forces approached the Ethiopian capital, the aircraft had accumulated about 30 hours of flight time.

According to historians, the aircraft was requisitioned and taken to Italy after Mussolini occupied Ethiopia, known then as Abyssinia, in 1935. Addis Ababa fell to the fascists the following year.

The Guardian