Air France Suspends Flights to Some Nearby Countries after Niger Airspace Closure

Air France has suspended flights to and from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali until Aug. 11, the company said on Monday, after Niger's junta closed its airspace on Sunday, with longer flight times expected in the West African region.

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