Flights remain suspended as Mali threatens to revoke slots

Air France (AF, Paris CDG) says its flights to Bamako, Mali remain suspended after the country closed its borders earlier this month in protest against sanctions imposed against its military rulers by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).

An Air France spokesperson confirmed to ch-aviation that there was no change to the situation at this stage. “Air France flights remain suspended,” he said. He was responding to a query following news reports from Mali and Burkina Faso that the French national carrier had renegotiated direct flights between Paris CDG and Bamako to circumvent the ECOWAS sanctions. Flights to Bamako with stopovers in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, and Dakar Blaise Diagne Int’l, Senegal would be excluded from Air France’s flight plans until the sanctions were lifted, the reports said.

This follows after Mali’s transport and infrastructure minister, Madina Sissoko Dembele, told airlines serving Mali to confirm within 72 hours from January 15 if they plan to continue to do so or risk losing their landing slots. “After this deadline, their time slots will be handed to other airlines, in order to assure continued services,” she warned in a statement issued on January 14. She said the measure would be in line with Mali’s National Policy for Transport, Transport Infrastructure, and Accessibility of 2016.

Other airlines that have suspended or diverted their Mali-bound flights as a result of the border closure include Mauritania Airlines, Air Sénégal, Air Burkina, and ASKY Airlines, according to Flightradar24 ADS-B data. Sky Mali has also suspended flights to Cotonou in Benin and Libreville in Gabon.