Air France has suspended flights to and from Bamako and Ouagadougou, the capital cities of Mali and Burkina Faso respectively, until August 11.
The airline company made this known on Monday, after Niger’s junta announced the clousure of its airspace, forcing expected longer flight durations in the West African region.
The suspension adds to a range of African airspace confronting geopolitical interruptions including Libya and Sudan, with some flights facing up to 1,000 kilometres (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.
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 non-stop.
A spokesperson for Brussels Airlines added that flight times could be between an hour and a half to three and a half hours longer for rerouted flights and could include a fuel stop