The ruling military junta in Niger (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie - CNSP) has banned all French airlines and France-registered aircraft from operating in its airspace as a dispute with its former coloniser escalates. France has since pulled its ambassador from the Sahel state.
NOTAM A1096/23, issued on September 23, 2023, bans "French aircraft or aircraft chartered by France, including those of the airline of Air France (AF, Paris CDG)" from entering Nigerien airspace, including for overflights. All other commercial flights are permitted, while military and special flights need prior authorisation.
Air France suspended service to Niamey in early August, shortly after the coup d'êtat in Niger. It simultaneously halted flights to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali, two countries which support the Nigerien junta. All three routes remain on hold.
Nigerien airspace was closed to all airlines until September 3. Air France confirmed that its flights to Accra and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo will be most affected by the need to, once again, bypass the Niamey Flight Information Region (FIR).
A day after the issuance of the NOTAM, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed Ambassador Sylvain Itté would be withdrawn immediately, while the around 1,500 French troops still stationed in Niger as a part of French anti-terrorist operations in the Sahel region will leave the country by the end of the year if not sooner. France has backed regional bloc ECOWAS, which opposes the junta and which has threatened militarily intervene to restore President Mohamed Bazoum.
