After Niger’s junta closed its airspace on Sunday, with longer flight times expected in the West African region, Air France has suspended flights to and from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali until August 11, the company said on Monday.
The disruption adds to a band of African airspace facing geopolitical disruptions including 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.
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.
Niger Republic’s closure of its airspace is expected to push up the cost of flights from Nigeria to Europe, Asia and the United States, stakeholders have said.
Nigerians are already paying more than N1 million to travel to Europe, Asia and the US as a result of airlines’ trapped funds and exchange rate depreciation.
Flights from various countries enroute Niger since Sunday evening have had to divert as the country shut down its airspace because of the “threat of intervention.”
The Economic Community of West African States demanded that Niger restores President Mohamed Bazoum or risk military action.
The military junta has announced the closure of Niger Republic’s airspace amid ECOWAS’ threat to carry out a military intervention in the country should the ousted president not be released and reinstated.
As a result, there have been diversions, U-turns and cancellations. Air France had to divert flights to Abidjan, Lagos and other African countries.
A popular Nigerian entrepreneur, investment banker, and economist, Atedo Peterside, noted on twitter that the closure of Niger Republic’s airspace would increase the cost of flights from Nigeria to Europe.
“If Burkina Faso and/or Mali join Niger in declining over flight rights to Nigerian bound aircraft, then inbound and outbound flights from Nigeria to Europe will become very expensive,” Peterside said.
The owner of West Link Airlines Nigeria and Mish Aviation Flying School, Ibrahim Mshelia, said that Europe to destinations in West African states from Lome eastwards covering Benin and destinations in entire Nigeria will have increased flight times based on the current airways available.
According to Mshelia, coming to Nigeria will be toughest if that airspace is closed.
“Airlines will fly to Ghana northwest border first and request direct Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) special approval routes if safe and not conflicting at the time or else they fly to Accra before turning 90 degrees left… to Lagos or any other Nigerian city after Polto,” Mshelia said.
He said no Eastern Airways routes that run parallel to the southern Niger border leading to Abuja or Lagos, meaning there would be serious course diversions.
He said Nigerian passengers should expect more increases and more flying hours, adding that airlines would also incur losses.
“This is a typical example of ‘when two elephants fight, the grass suffers’. The Nigerian government should begin meeting carriers to discuss cushioning efforts to keep the status quo or else we may soon see a jump in ticket fares along affected routes. It’s all destinations to Europe for all Nigerian travellers, no doubt. Shylocks carriers like British Airways will cash in and you can’t blame them,” Mshelia said.
The chairman of Airlines and Passengers’ Joint Committee of the International Air Transport Association, Bankole Bernard, said the closure of Niger’s airspace will only cause operational hazards, which will eat into their profits.
The president of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria, Kingsley Nwokeoma, regretted that with the closure of Niger’s airspace, connecting flights to Europe and US will be more expensive as flight options will be limited.
“We are already grappling with foreign exchange scarcity and trapped funds, which have increased the cost of fares. This will only be more trouble for us and I hope the issue will be resolved as soon as possible,” Nwokeoma said.
An aviation analyst and chief executive officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, Seyi Adewale, said there will certainly be an additional cost on the airlines, especially relating to fuel expenses, arranging new flight authorisation with other countries if necessary, and reworking slot schedules.
“My thoughts are that this is ‘force majeure’ that will hopefully pass away soon,” he added.
He said the affected airlines need not pass this to already overstretched Nigerian passengers that are paying high airfares.
“I strongly believe that these airlines, especially those plying Europe/US routes, already make huge margins, although slightly or prior tamed by restrictive fund repatriations that are easing out,” Adewale said.
In recent times, Nigerians have had to suspend their travel plans to the US and Europe as a result of the increase in fares, which have tripled as a result of naira devaluation.
The price of an economy class ticket for Lagos-London and Lagos-France, which cost around N1.5 million two months ago, now averages N1.9-N2.2 million, depending on the airline.
Since last year, foreign airlines operating in Nigeria blocked low ticket inventories (cheap tickets), leaving high inventories (costly tickets) to be sold in naira only, while the low ticket inventories on most airlines’ websites could be bought with dollar cards only.
This was in a bid to cushion the effect of their trapped funds in Nigeria which have risen in recent months.
While airlines gradually opened up low ticket inventories as the Central Bank of Nigeria gradually released their trapped funds, it was gathered that high ticket inventories were still more on their websites, making ticket prices high.
