Niger reopens airspace month after as Ecowas threat remains

Niger’s military government says it has reopened the country’s airspace to all commercial flights one month after it closed it.

The military junta announced closure of its airspace on August 6, days after it forcefully ousted former president Mohamed Bazoum from power through a coup.

The government cited concerns of a military intervention from regional economic bloc ECOWAS at the time. It is not clear whether the threat has been resolved.

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Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, then commander of the presidential guard, led a group of soldiers to topple the government on July 26 and appointed himself head of a new military government a day later. Tchiani said the military government will rule “no longer than three years.”

The closure of the country’s airspace had breached the air travel part that connected most parts of Africa and was mostly used by international airlines.

The closure had forced most carriers including Air France and KLM to either suspend some flights or take longer routes to reach parts of the continent.

ECOWAS had condemned the coup and considered the use of military force to reinstate Mr Bazoum to power after the coup leaders rejected a deadline to reinstate the country’s ousted president.

Niger, a Sahel country with around 26 million people and one of the poorest populations in the world, has been a strategic security partner to the United States and Europe in the fight against Islamic insurgency in the region.