The imposition of a no-fly zone over the Niger Republic has extended travel time between West Africa, Europe, and beyond by about two hours. Nigerian commercial carriers and some of their European counterparts now lament the extra cost of fuel to bypass the embattled Niger Republic airspace.
Recall that the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) recently stated that the imposition of a commercial flight ban on the Niger route subsists, though with some exemptions. Its Nigerien counterpart retaliated with a ban on flights originating from or terminating at any Nigerian airport.
According to FlightRadar24, this restriction means airlines that used to fly to countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana via Niger skies now have to go around adding hours of flight time and up to 600 or more miles to the already long journeys.
A British Airways flight from Johannesburg to London was en route when the closure came into effect last year, and the plane opted to turn back rather than divert.
The most affected KLM routes are to Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa and Entebbe, Uganda. Airlines confirmed that flights to Accra, Ghana, and Lagos, Nigeria, are also impacted, but “to a lesser extent.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Topbrass Airline, Capt. Roland Iyayi, explained that the Niger Republic borders over 700 miles of the Northern Nigerian border. Meaning, any Southbound airline from Europe or Northbound flight from Nigeria would naturally traverse the Niger airspace.
But with the closure of the airspace to flights into and out of Nigeria specifically, he said it means that any international flight originating or ending in Nigeria from any part of the world is banned from the Niger airspace.
“It means that such a flight will have to go around the Niger airspace, and from the standpoint of the country’s size, we are talking of additional flight time of one to two hours, depending on where you are coming from. That increases drastically the cost of operation into and out of Nigeria.
“Especially for domestic carriers that are designated on international routes, this is a huge cost in addition to what they are already incurring going by the economies to today and almost impossible to sustain in the long run,” Iyayi said.
Recall that in response to the recent political events surrounding the coup d’état in the Republic of Niger on July 26, 2023, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convened an extraordinary summit to address the situation. Among the resolutions adopted during the summit, ECOWAS announced the closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger, along with the establishment of a no-fly zone on all commercial flights to and from Niger.
Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Abdullahi Musa, said the exemptions outlined include over-flight aircraft passing through Niger airspace, aircraft in a state of emergency, and special flights. Musa noted that special flights would require authorisation from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development.
“It is crucial to highlight that the suspension of flights can only be lifted by the Honourable Minister of Aviation and AeroSpace Development as approved by the Presidency and ECOWAS,” he said.
