Longer Flights
Read Time:1 Minute, 37 Second
European airlines face longer flights and cancellations as Niger closes its airspace following ECOWAS military threats
European carriers on Tuesday continue to report disruptions and suspended flights across the African continent after Niger’s junta closed its airspace on Sunday.
Also on Tuesday, the junta braced for a response from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after ignoring its deadline to reinstate the country’s ousted president or face the threat of military intervention.
The disruption adds to a band of African airspace facing geopolitical upheavals, including in Libya and Sudan, with some flights facing up to 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in detours.
“The closure of Niger’s airspace dramatically widens the area over which most commercial flights between Europe and southern Africa cannot fly,” tracking service FlightRadar24 said in a blog post.
Air France has suspended flights to and from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali until Friday, the company said Monday, with longer flight times expected in the West African region.
A spokesperson added that Air France expected longer flight times from sub-Saharan hub airports, and that flights between Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and Accra in Ghana were set to operate nonstop.
But aviation analyst James Halstead said that airlines would mostly have to find alternative routes, and that difficulties should be limited given the small number of African air connections. “I’m not sure this is huge disruption. … It will affect routes from Europe to Nigeria and South Africa and probably from the Gulf of the Ethiopia to West Africa,” he said.
Spokespeople for Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines said that flight times could be between 1½ and 3½ hours longer for rerouted flights.
British Airways in an emailed statement said that it “apologized to those customers affected for the disruption to their journeys,” and that it was working hard to get them on their way again as quickly as possible.
Source AFP/France24/AP/RT
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
![Supporters of Niger's National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) demonstrate in Niamey on August 6, 2023 [AFP] Published On 7 Aug 2023](https://i0.wp.com/felastory.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/33QQ2Y2-highres-1691345679.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1)
Average Rating