Airlines cancel flights, ticket prices up as Niger closes airspace

Airlines have rerouted, and in some cases cancelled, international flights after Niger closed its airspace Sunday night, making it more difficult for planes to fly across parts of Africa.

The military junta in Niger said the country’s airspace will remain closed till further notice, citing the threat of military intervention from the West African regional bloc, Ecowas. The coup leaders rejected a deadline to reinstate the country’s ousted president.

Ecowas has not commented since its ultimatum for President Mohamed Bazoum’s reinstatement expired on Sunday.

The closure took effect around midnight Nigerien time when several international flights were already airborne, according to tracking service FlightRadar24.

– Why this matters

Niger is a key route for airlines flying between western and southern parts of Africa.

The disruption is expected to cause longer flight times to Europe, UK and US destinations and will be more felt as there are already airspace restrictions over Sudan and Libya.

Nigerian passengers should expect more increase in time of flight and cost for those flights.

• Italy urges ECOWAS to extend Niger deadline for reinstating Bazoum
• Niger junta seeks help from Wagner as ECOWAS deadline draws near
• Niger Coup: Nigerian Senate opposes Tinubu’s plan for military action

– Multiple airlines affected

Air France, KLM, British Airways and Deutsche Lufthansa AG have all seen their services disrupted.

On Monday, Air France suspended flights to and from neighbouring countries including Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali until August 11 citing the closure of the airspace over Niger as reason. The company diverted some flights to Abidjan, Lagos and other African countries.

The carrier said longer flight times of between 15 minutes and 2 hours were to be expected across sub-Saharan destinations.

At least five British Airways flights to and from its London have been diverted. They include services from Nairobi, Cape Town and flights to and from Johannesburg.

A British Airways flight from Johannesburg to London flew as far as Chad before turning back to its starting point, UK Independent reported. The Airbus A380 has space for nearly 500 passengers.

BA confirmed in social media posts that some flights had been diverted because of the airspace closure over Niger.

“We’ve apologised to those customers affected for the disruption to their journeys,” BA said in a statement. “Our teams are working hard to get them on their way again as quickly as possible.”

A British Airways flight from Cape Town to London Heathrow was also diverted via Lagos.