Algeria and Mali have banned flights between the two countries in the wake of the recent shooting down of a Malian uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) by the Algerian defence forces. The two sides disagree over the location of the incident.
The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the closure of its airspace to all Malian aircraft on April 7, 2025. Mali's Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport issued a press release shortly after that, saying that "due to the persistence of the Algerian regime in sponsoring international terrorism and in response [to the Algerian closure], the national airspace is closed to all civilian and military aircraft departing or heading to Algeria."
The decisions have a relatively limited impact on commercial air traffic, as there were no scheduled flights between the two countries before the suspension. Air Algérie operated the Algiers-Bamako route intermittently in 2024.
The escalation follows an incident on April 1, 2025. Algeria claims that a Malian UAV violated its airspace, returned to Mali, and then turned around again and flew into Algeria. At that point it was shot down, reportedly 1.6 kilometres north of the border, over Algerian territory. Algiers said it was the third such violation since August 2024. In turn, Bamako said that the UAV was shot down almost 10 kilometres from the border on the Malian side. As part of the escalation, Algeria also recalled its ambassadors from Mali and allied Niger and suspended the appointment of a new envoy to Burkina Faso. Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso jointly form a confederation called the Alliance of Sahel States.
