Military junta closing airspace over Niger due to foreign threats causes disturbances for air traffic

The military junta in Niger closed the airspace above that country indefinitely on Sunday evening. A spokesman for the regime said on national television that the decision was taken because of the threat of an intervention in the country.

The closure will remain in effect “until further notice” and any attempt to violate airspace will result in “a strong and immediate response”, it was threatened.

At midnight (local time), the ultimatum that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has imposed on the coup plotters expired. ECOWAS gave the generals who seized power last 26 July one week to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Military action by ECOWAS is possible if the coup in Niger wasn’t reversed.

This night, several airlines were forced to take alternative routes, had to head back to the airport of departure or had to divert to other airports. A small overview of some affected airlines, for a more detailed interaction, visit our dedicated Aviation24.be forum topic:

• Brussels Airlines flight SN455, an Airbus A330 (registered OO-SFF) returned to Entebbe, Uganda
• Air Belgium flight MD50, operating between Antananarivo, Madagascar and Paris CDG, France also returned to Madagascar
• Brussels Airlines flight SN383 from Yaounde, Cameroon to Brussels, Belgium performed an extra stop in Barcelona, Spain, as well as a KLM Boeing 777 that operated KL592 from Johannesburg, South Africa and Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Lufthansa flight LH573 from Johannesburg to Frankfurt, Germany diverted to Lagos, Nigeria before heading to Frankfurt and experiencing a delay of seven hours.

The closure of Niger’s airspace will add to the already challenging difficulties faced by airlines flying between Europe and southern Africa. Looking at the following map, airline operations will have to create flight plans, adding 1000 kilometres or more than an hour of flight time to some routes.